


The One That I Want

by GabrielLaVedier



Series: Unbounded Love [5]
Category: Arashi no Yoru ni | One Stormy Night, The Lion Guard (Cartoon), Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Gender or Sex Swap, Redemption, Romance, Social Issues, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23430766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabrielLaVedier/pseuds/GabrielLaVedier
Summary: An anthology series, with description and content to be added to over time. Many side-couples have been brushed past in main series stories, so this story will give them more focus. Mostly an excuse to be cute.Ripe Harvest: Nuka and Kaho from "A Different Kind of Pride"Il Lupo Di Gubbio: Gabu and May from "A Different Kind of Pride"Networking: Peter Moosebridge and Fabienne GrowleyBela Lugosi's Dead: Bela Farkas from "A Different Kind of Pride"...But... I AM Pagliacci: Ame Ichoji from "Bela Lugosi's Dead"Laughing Matters: Janja and Zuri, Chungu and Tiifu, Kiara and Vitani, Nuka and Kaho from "Sisi ni Sawa" and "A Different Kind of Pride"Snouts Service: Jasiri and Kion, Madoa and Cheezi, Fuli and Badili, Dhahabu and Bunga from "Sisi ni Sawa" and "A Different Kind of Pride"
Relationships: Badili/Fuli (The Lion King), Cheezi/Madoa (The Lion King), Chungu/Tiifu (The Lion King), Dhahabu/Bunga (The Lion King), Fabienne Growley/Peter Moosebridge, Gabu/Mei (Arashi no Yoru ni), Janja/Zuri (The Lion King), Jasiri/Kion (The Lion King), Kiara/Vitani (The Lion King), Nuka/Original Female Character (The Lion King)
Series: Unbounded Love [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1501976
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Ripe Harvest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What came of Nuka and Kaho, and how Nuka learned to let go of his doubts about where he came from and embrace the tanuki that loved him no matter what.

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter One: Ripe Harvest**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

Zira Kaamu knew nothing was ever promised in life, least of all in a place as precarious as Happytown. Some mammals could let that lead them to depression, but she had a far different outlook. With no promises life was meant to be seen as a precious gift. Things mattered more when they could be lost, a lesson that meshed with things she learned from Taka Pride. Life wasn't fair, he often told her, so it was up to everyone to try and make life more fair for all.

To that end she had taken the opportunity to be under the tutelage of Taka Pride when she worked at the Pride company. She got a business degree at night classes, renovated a blocky building she bought with undersigning from Taka, and made it into a fortress and haven for the kind of women who were roughly treated. Single mothers and their children were especially welcome, in a place that had reasonable rates to make their small paychecks stretch more. They all learned how to help each other, keep the place up, and protect each other from loser exes or other similar problems. Protection, security, and understanding were key.

Family mattered very much to her. More to the point, while the men that had been in her life, aside from the noble Taka, had been worthless, her children were her world. Perhaps they brought out a bit too much passion in her, but she wanted only the best for all of them. She wanted them to rise higher than the circumstances they had been born into. That's what every parent wanted and she was quite firm about it.

All told, she hadn't done very badly on that front. Her daughter was blissfully in love with a fine lioness who liked her odd personality and dark ways. Her family had produced good and bad, but she and her brother seemed to be made of finer material than the father that sired her. Her younger son was being too much of a player. He enjoyed being in the sphere that his sister's girlfriend could unlock. He was at least careful, and tried to be charming without being overly lustful. He'd learned better than that. He was just a charmer with no thought to settling down yet, but had grand prospects. Then there was Nuka...

He was a good cub. He was studious, loved his family, and was always willing to do anything asked of him. She recognized that, perhaps, as the oldest she had over-mothered him. It was Happytown, and they were more vulnerable. His skinny form and nervousness that he covered over with swinging between bravado and reticence. For all his good traits, he had never been much to go out and seek partners. Lately, though, something had changed.

One day when he had come home from visiting his new favorite haunt in Tanukitown he had seemed more distant than usual. His distraction didn't seem to be negative. He was smiling, just slightly. He moved about the apartment with a light tread, flopped onto his bed and enjoyed his music with a game attempt at singing along with the foreign lyrics. He was even more careful than usual, looking at a lyric sheet and moving his finger along as he did.

From that day Zira had been more attuned to the way Nuka acted. He was more distracted, looking at the tickets he had been given by the fox woman, apparently directly gifted by the members of his favorite group. He groomed more to get his mane in more of a tightly forward-swept manner, filed down his claws a bit more, tried to straighten his whiskers and had taken to having his Chibimetal jacket hanging off his shoulders. His portion of the settlement money that had been given to him and not put away as savings was being used more often, for trips to Tanukitown and occasional trinkets he tried to hide before wrapping up.

"Nuka..." Zira was sitting at the table in the kitchen, hands folded in front of her, face inscrutable, while her eyes were their usual slightly slitted and searching set, looking piercing and questing. "Have a seat. Right now."

"Yes mother, of course." He had never done anything truly wrong. He had never disobeyed the rules of the house or made his mother upset. He got grades that were the best he could muster, did all his chores, supported everyone as best he could. But her look was one he never thought he would face. The look given to those who were somehow guilty of something. "Mother... what..?"

"No, Nuka, you have not angered me... perhaps," Zira said with a soft, even voice. "Tell me. Have you found a queen that makes you happy?"

"N-no, mother. I haven't found a qu-queen..." Nuka said, fidgeting a bit in his seat. His mother was such a loving queen, but her stern eyes didn't keep their home safe for nothing. They were almost tangible in their force.

"So many things are implied... are you like your sister? Some handsome fellow with a large mane and strong features will be here some day to meet my approval? Speak, Nuka."

Nuka swallowed, hard. "She's a... tanuki..."

Time ticked away, slow, heavy, each second thudding like Nuka's heartbeat, Zira's silence weighty as lead, filling the air with a choking thickness. "And she is... greedy? Needful? Clingy? You spend your money often on trips and I see you hiding trinkets that must be for her. Is she bleeding you dry and you know it's wrong?"

Nuka blinked in slow motion, his eyes then going wide, staring, not sure what to make of the strange pivot the conversation had taken. "No, mother. Not at all. But... a tanuki. I know we all say nice things about Inters and Outsiders, but those are other mammals. But you... you wanted me, wanted Kovu, to find lionesses. Good queens, quality-"

"Enough!" Zira hissed, her gaze narrowing more. She looked something more than angry. The creases in her features, the ever so slight curl of her lips, the pull of her brow; she was certainly not just mad, she was **offended**. "Is that what you think of me? Of this family? Lip service? Insincerity? We may be taking in a Pride queen, we may be living on the legacy of a Pride man, but we do not hold the values the main line held as they have been expressed. Look me in my eyes, cub, and say to me you thought I would spit on any lady you chose, that you needed to **hide** a tanuki from me."

He couldn't. For all he was nearly an adult, for all he had grown up hard and tough in a slum, he had been given safety through his mother, the mother that kept food on his plate and sense in his head, the mother staring daggers at him for lying by omission, for calling her a hypocrite. He couldn't look her in her eyes. He tried, and a wave of self-loathing moved through his form. "I-I'm... I'm so sorry, mother. But I... she's so..."

Zira rapped on the table and brought her look back up to a serious gaze, to a stern contemplation. "You will atone with information and openness. Her name, immediately."

"Kaho Mujina," Nuka quickly snapped off. "Her friends call her Cereal. Her name has a reading that means ear of cereal grain. It's... cute..."

"Mm, I see. Now, is she in school? Does she have some form of employment?"

"Of course. She goes to Iriomote High School, it's sort of... sub-private, a nice place. She also works as a miko at the shrine her mother is the priestess at. She sells charms and talismans, tells fortunes, keeps the grounds. It's a family business, she's in line to be the next shrine priestess if she wants.

"Well now, a religious girl. That seems familiar," Zira said, finally cracking a small smile. "That's one parent. Is there another? And what is their housing situation?"

"Her father's an office worker, a middle-manager type at... one of the international companies in the area. They have a home on the shrine grounds. She told me it's kind of sort of like if she was a PUCA Tender. I've been over to see it. It's very unique, built like places in the family's Old Country."

"And this was all mistaken hesitation, not because she is somehow taking advantage of you and you knew it?"

"Again, I'm sorry mother. I don't know what I was thinking..."

Zira sighed and reached out to slowly pet over Nuka's mane. "I tried my best but I was too stern, too protective. You were the first, and we were in a more precarious position. I made you too timid and you made yourself too brash. Now it all comes out in a confused manner. I recognize that having a job of some import must take up much of her time, but you are aware I expect to meet this girl at some time, yes? I met Kiara. I've met a few of the more serious relationships Kovu had. It's only right."

"I've met her parents, I want her to meet you. But... she's a miko. She's lived all her life in Tanukitown, safe, mostly knowing the shrine. This... is Happytown. I don't know... if I'm enough to make it happen," Nuka confessed, looking at his own scrawny arms.

"If you fear that, truly, then swallow your pride, and ask your sister for help. Yes, she will mock you, and yes, that is a family trait. But she may also want to see this... Kaho of yours. Her mockery will eventually turn to smiles. Or, ask your future brother-in-law and his lovely lady. Surely a girl hyena would be enough to run off troubles. But you must have her around some time. Before that concert you plan to attend. I want a girl that I've looked over to accompany you," Zira insisted.

Nuka nodded firmly, dipping his head in contrition and agreement. "Of course, mother. I'll try to make arrangements. And... I haven't been bled dry. She's not greedy. I buy her things she seems slightly reluctant to take. Even if that's cultural, she's not flashy. She's a priestess in training. It's not so usual to get cheap necklaces or accessories that would look nice and make us match at the concert. And me buying charms and incense and fortune telling at the shrine. It's her job, after all. I don't want to waste her time or upset her mother."

Zira rose from her seat and stepped over to Nuka, leaning in to hug him and plant a kiss on his forehead. "Because you're a good cub. Respectful. Just make sure it happens before your concert date. I am not some beast, but I want to see her."

o o o

"So, big brother needs his little sister to keep him safe, how cute," Vitani said with a loud laugh. She was standing with her slightly-fuming brother at the border area between Happytown and the "proper" city. It was almost an unspoken rule that that's where service stopped. Cabs and Zuber did not actually go in, not even if someone paid extra. Vitani was well aware. Kiara once tried to be the gallant princess and take Vitani right to her front door, but the Zuber driver waved off any money offered for going past the unspoken boundary. Coward. She had dressed for the occasion in some of the _quality_ gothy stuff that Kiara had bought for her. Black denim baggies with stapled cuffs over her paws, a Candide tee with pre-done fading and distressing under a mesh shirt, and black-and-red striped sateen sleeves pinned to her top, with a purpose-made stitched thumb-hole on both, a bulge in her right sleeve showing she was still carrying her butterfly knife.

"I just think it would be better with numbers is all," Nuka hissed through his teeth. He could show off much more pique with his sister, if only because it was painfully clear the tough queen could take it. She had always been rough and tumble, and actually snarked off to mother once or twice. The two queens understood each other and had the healthy mutual respect that most could only hope for. "It's called being sensible. I'm oldest so I need to think of that." His attire was his usual of late. The same black slacks and white short sleeve shirt and black tie, with his Chibimetal jacket hanging off his shoulders, banchou-style.

"Rat scat, I take Kiara to the house and back alone and you know it," Vitani chuckled. She gave her brother a light jab on the shoulder and bumped his chin after. "I'll give you spoor from now until one of us dies. It's family. But hey, I wanna see this girl too. Don't worry, I'll keep my hands off. My girl's better anyway."

"That's just your opinion. Kaho is perfect," Nuka insisted, standing up to his full height.

"You can up-oil your mane and hang your coat off your shoulders like a punk, but you're still a mama's cub. Lean into it. Don't girls from Tanukitown **like** mama's cubs?" Vitani asked. "You're trying to appeal to that kinda thing; I've seen those comic books you read and the movies you pick on movie nights."

"H-hey, I'm not... not just a mama's cub. I have my own nerve," Nuka insisted, scowling at his sister. "Kaho likes me just for who I am, but it's not because I'm a mama's cub. It's because I'm generous and always share my locust skewers and noodle bowls. We get the couple noodles and slurp them up at the same time, and share the shrimp. Her mother thinks it's cute and her father says that's how he was."

Vitani let out a hooting laugh and lightly shoved her brother's arm. "Oh sweet darkness! You actually act like Kion! Kiara tells me that even with a tough girl like Jasiri he's nothing but a syrupy honeydrop. Well, if it works, it works. Bet you slurp face plenty with that noodle trick."

Nuka's incensed fuming was interrupted by the approach of a modestly sized light-colored sedan that drove right up to the street. The back doors opened up and let out two figures. The first was Kiara in a bright spaghetti-strap top marked with two stylized cartoon lionesses leaning on one another and a pair of culottes, as well as a pair of flat sandals. The other was Kaho, out of her miko outfit but apparently in her school clothes. The tanuki was in a pleated white skirt with a blue trim, with a soft white button-up top with some vertical pleats near the buttons, and a small sailor-type half-tabard at the back. Clutched at her side was sort of a small bag marked with a popular cartoon fox, and in her waistband the handle of a small paper fan was visible. She also had on a pair of probably non-school-approved long-projection geta sandals with red-and-white twisted thongs.

Though Kiara was closer, Kaho was quicker, clacking around the car and practically throwing herself into Nuka's arms, though she very quickly pulled back, nervously pushing her glasses up her snout and smiling timidly, showing off her snaggled teeth. "I, um, hope that... that your mother approves of me."

"Oh she, she approves. She hasn't met you but likes you, she just wants to do this. Formally," Nuka said, rubbing the back of his head and pulling too big of a smile.

Vitani kissed Kiara on the lips and drew her in to a huge, tight hug, while looking aside at the girl in Nuka's life. She was, by every reasonable estimation she could make, plain. Homely plain. She'd be a farm wife in an old movie, or a secretary or teacher in an even older movie. Glasses, weird teeth, really round and plump face, dull color. She actually smiled at that. Her brother, the guy with good taste. No flashy gold-digger, just a girl that likes him. "So, how was the trip from the tram station? Get any insight from Nuka's squeeze?"

"She was telling me a lot about her job. She sweeps up the shrine grounds, sells amulets and incense, and tells fortunes! Like a rabbit," Kiara squealed. "Mostly she was asking me about what it was like in Happytown. I had to tell her the truth. It's a little... wild."

"Wild is just spicy," Vitani said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's not so bad, we just live day-to-day. Toughens you up. Don't worry. For all the scat I give him, I'm sure he can take care of problems."

Nuka linked arms with Kaho, finding it easier than usual with her new height, though his ears flattened back a little thinking he was inconveniencing her. "Ah, I like your geta. I hope I'm not the reason you're wearing them. They don't look comfortable or easy..."

Kaho gave a musical laugh and settled in against Nuka's side. "I can walk on tengu geta if I want to. I keep them in my locker at school and wear them if I want to have some height. This is easy on us both. I... I like holding your arm."

Vitani laughed again as Kiara tried to politely hide a titter. "Just like your brother, a honeydrop. How does that hyena stand him?"

"Jasiri's just as sweet," Kiara asserted. "She only ever got into that one Girl Fight, and didn't go past a solid punch to the face and a shove."

"A fight?" Kaho asked, looking up at Nuka.

Nuka shook his head and squeezed Kaho a bit. "It's a hyena thing. If there's a scrap over a boy they fight a bit and part on understanding terms. Well... unless an insult was involved. You remember what happened to her brother? He and his girlfriend caught the queen that did it tagging up the neighborhood. She got pushy, Jasiri started a Girl Fight... I hear it really was over that fast."

"Not that fast, but Kion doesn't generally like to brag how long she held up on just defense, let her solid bones and strong jawline take punch after punch. And she wasn't even hurt by it. He wants to brag but he won't. But he let it all slip a little at a time. Like Vitani said, he's a honeydrop," Kiara giggled.

"Well, let's get going, we shouldn't keep mother waiting," Nuka said, walking at the head of the little group onto the cracked sidewalks and uneven streets that were the mark of Happytown proper.

Though she did her best not to express it, Kaho regarded everything with a curious mix of awe, surprise, and uncertainty. The broken pavement, the tufts of stray grass poking up at odd intervals, the dead trees in rusted cages, and in the gutter she could have sworn she saw spent taser cartridges and bent tranq darts with ragged indicator puffs.

Nuka felt Kaho tense up and pulled her in a little closer. "W-we, we can all go to Kuzunoha Ramen, the trams aren't that much and it's a nice trip. Sis, I know you'll love the monitor liver and soba."

Before Vitani got to whip off the grinning insult loaded on her tongue, Kaho pulled the little paper fan from her waistband and lightly tapped Nuka's pompadour. "Honma? Nandeyanen? Aho..." She leaped up to press a kiss on the side of his muzzle, clacking back down on her geta lifts deftly, in spite of her chubby heaviness. "Nu-kun... I was only born and raised on the shrine grounds, I am not a sacred treasure or a snooty kami. M-maybe I am not as wild as a youkai, but still not so controlled. I know this place is... strange. But it is your home. You lived here, I should see it with my own eyes."

"I suppose..." Nuka pulled Kaho closer and walked on.

"Nu-kun? Not sure if I should use that to tease you or not. It's pretty syrupy cute but pretty dull as far as honey nicknames go," Vitani said. She kissed Kiara's cheek and winked. "Strong nicknames are the best, right princess?"

"Well, unless you don't have them. You don't need anything but Vitani," Kiara sighed, leaning comfortably against Vitani's strong shoulder.

"Maybe it's a bit... naughty," Kaho giggled, her dipped tail swaying in a very canid way. "Girls in my school always call their boyfriends kun. But the ones who are serious give them nicknames. I... maybe it's too fast? Should I call you Nuka-kun?"

Vitani rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're just as bad as him. You're both too cute for your own goods. Keep it up, it seems right that a mama's cub like him gets a girl like you. Really... I'm actually kind of amazed, Nuka."

Nuka quirked a brow and looked behind him. "What's the angle this time?"

Vitani chuckled into a sigh. "Truce. I mean it. You must have looked at her swinging butt at some point. She moves like a canid. She's a canid, snout to wagging tail."

"And?" Nuka asked with an annoyed look.

"You've got some stuff, big brother. Sure, mother would never say a thing about it. But the entire rest of the city would lose their collective scat over a black-mane lion holding onto a boiled grain canine. Every lioness in the city that isn't like Kiara and me would scream bloody murder over a panting howler taking one of 'their' best men. But you don't care, do you? Even if she's a schoolteacher from an old movie, she really makes you happy, doesn't she?"

The look on Nuka's face melted slowly from defensive annoyance and subtle mirth. He softly rubbed Kaho's hip and started stepping more lightly and happily. "She's all I could ever want."

"I... I'm not as cool as the other girls in my class. What do I have to do with boiled grain and teachers? Is it my nickname?" Kaho asked.

Nuka started to reply but Vitani poked him in the back. "Let me, she should think you're too nice to know. You're plain, as far as I can tell. My number doesn't go to you. But I'm guessing you're straight average, plain and simple like boiled grain for breakfast. The kind they used to cast in old black and white movies as schoolteachers and secretaries. But I've seen this honeydrop at home. When he tells mother about what he was doing his eyes get all big. He loves some eye candy, that's normal. But even if the girls in that band look just like you from what I can pick out, when he watches the music videos he never looks anything like when he talks about you. What a pathetic honeydrop." She lightly flicked the back of his head and gave a warm chuckle. "Love ya, bro."

Nuka rubbed the back of his head and half-smiled. "You know... I don't think like that..."

Kaho tapped Nuka with her paper fan, smiling and showing off her teeth again. "Oh Nu-kun... I'm not pretty. Mother always made sure to keep me understanding real things. The tanuki face is... what it is. But you liking me is what matters. You're a special lion, Nu-kun." She reached into her bag and took out a paulownia leaf, looking fairly fresh and healthy. She settled it on his head, using his mane oil to keep it stuck to the top of his head. She took out another one and dabbed a touch of lotion on it and stuck it to her own head. "You saw the tree these came from. It was the one mother planted when I was born. You've seen father and mother walking around with the silk sakura leaves on their heads. Copies of the ones from the tree she had planted when she was born, a tanuki thing. We always accessorize with head leaves, like Michael Tanuyama on ZNN. I still pluck real ones for... for this..."

Kiara cooed sweetly and leaned her head against Vitani's shoulder. Vitani smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'm surrounded by honeydrops. How does this happen?"

Kiara tilted her head and kissed Vitani's cheek. "I think most everyone's a little honeyed. Even you, my bitter-melon."

"Ha! Bitter-melon! That's the truth!" Nuka laughed.

Vitani had to laugh in kind, squeezing Kiara tighter. "You got it just right, princess. Just call me melon. Bitterness optional."

The quartet walked on in general security. Despite the fact that both Kiara and Kaho were clearly very up-market from the surroundings, even the dullest dregs knew the attire of Vitani, unique and dated, and knew what they meant; knew Zira was not far, nor forgiving. Some had harassed Kiara, initially, for pride and for a few bucks. The butterfly knife in Vitani's sleeve took the wind out of a few. Zira's merciless pipe wrench and steely eyes made sure the ones that didn't get the daughter's message remembered the mother forever.

Once at the boarding house Kaho started to remove her geta but was halted. "Wait until we get to the apartment. They know mother, but unattended things still have a way of sneaking off," Nuka said, leading everyone into the apartment block.

Because Zira was owner and, by skilled rights, the super, the apartment her family occupied was on the ground floor, by her office. It was the biggest place in the block, having a relatively large main area that was a combination of carpeted living room and cramped dining area in the midst of the kitchen. To one side, a door to the single bathroom, on the other side doors to the three small rooms, one for Zira, one for Vitani and one for the boys. The decision had been made early in their lives and had been just a natural fact. Kovu didn't appear to be home but Zira was sitting at the table, seemingly waiting while nursing a cup of what looked to be lukewarm coffee.

She rose and approached the collection of teens, a smile on her muzzle and her hand out. On seeing the older lioness approach, however, Kaho dropped into a stiff and formal bow. "K-konnianiachiwa, Kaamu-san! Mujina Kaho des'!"

The shock on Zira's face melted into amusement, her hand slowly falling to her side. "Well... And here I thought the girls Kovu brought around had class and manners. So, you're the girl my Nuka can't stop talking about? Please let me have a look at you, dear."

Kaho slowly stood up, arms still at her side, looking suddenly nervous. She had been raised to respect adults, to show deference to her elders. Her mother was a refined figure, with gravitas and spiritual presence. Though both friendly and savagely beautiful, this Zira woman had an aura of subtle command, with strong eyes that impacted her like the gaze was physical. And it was kind, even nice falling on her. But her stern and firm nature still came through. Being caught by them when there was anger in them likely would be a terrible thing. "Y-yes, Kaamu-san."

Zira clicked her tongue as she slowly strode around the plump schoolgirl tanuki, noting all the details including the matching leaves on her and Nuka's heads. "I know I have some power in the area but you can feel free to call me Zira. I never demanded that anyone call me Ms. Kaamu."

"It's... how things are for her," Nuka said. "Those titles come after names. And for those she respects, the family name has to be used."

"Mm, a very respectful culture. I appreciate the respectfulness, but I am not so arrogant to think I am so special," Zira said. "What does she call you, Nuka?"

A smile broke out across Kaho's face. "Nu-kun. It's... I should be less quick." She turned a bit and looked slightly down.

"A nickname. I see," Zira said, nodding sharply. "I'm certain Nuka told you this is a formality. I already like you; I trust his judgment. If you would like to call me anything, just call me mother."

Another bow followed. "Yes, okasan."

Nuka leaned in and whispered, "Ka-san."

"No!" Kaho rose quickly with wide eyes. "Nandeyanen?"

"Mother is that kind of mammal, it's always been her way," Nuka explained.

"Ka-san," Kaho muttered, nodding her head. "Thank you for bringing me to your home."

"I don't leave Happytown much, it's easier to have my children bring dates here so I can supervise. I believe very much in keeping things proper," Zira said. "I'm aware I ate up a date day for both yourself and Vitani. I think that earns you a free day with the television. _Share_ the allowance, in a civil manner."

"Take first shift, bro, I'm always good," Vitani said, pulling Kiara down onto her lap and burying her muzzle in the other lioness' neck.

Nuka chuckled and flipped though the small collection of DVD boxes beside the cheap television stand. "Don't worry. You two can probably ignore it..." He pulled up a dark box marked with a lot of Japanese characters, showing off the figures of the girls of Chibimetal. "We should get pumped up for the future."

Kaho laughed behind her hand. "Sugoi."

Zira smiled as she regarded her children. Vitani necking lightly while Kiara was transported in gentle bliss. Nuka settled beside Kaho, the two pressed up against one another, matching leaves lightly touching as he leaned his head down as much as he could to get them close to each other. Kovu was still enjoying his popularity and smooth nature. He'd settle sooner or later. At present, two out of three settled cubs was quite the success in her books. She sipped her coffee and allowed herself a self-assured smile. She was probably as good as her future daughter-in-laws thought she was. She'd just never say it out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaho's mother tried very hard to be exceptionally elegant and exceedingly proper. But, when the shock comes out, the truth is revealed. And the language lessons that went from mother to daughter did the same thing. She likes to pretend she's the prototypical proper and graceful miko. But shock Kaho just a bit and the Osaka comes out hard.


	2. Il Lupo Di Gubbio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabu and May, from "A Different Kind Of Pride", how they met, and how he severed himself from every member of his old pack.

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Two: Il Lupo Di Gubbio**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

Gabu Akayama had a strange relationship with sleep for a high school teenager. Though stereotyped as hormonal sleeping machines, Gabu didn't have an easy time with it. His body could demand it, but his mind was seldom in a position to listen. He remembered things he would like to forget. Nothing truly terrible; in his more thoughtful states he was sure that true transgressions would have left him unable to sleep at all.

But being part of a pack meant he thought he could dissipate responsibility. The unfeeling mass would absolve him of his wrongs. The pack was strong. He was part of the pack, he was strong. He had seen other wolves who went it alone, and thought little of them. They were fools. Some idiot from another neighborhood named Paolo had been the perfect stereotype. A lazy but good-natured slacker who didn't make mischief. They all ignored that he was generally considered harmless and liked, and might have possibly actually been, like the rumors said, involved with some trendy hedgehog. Prey.

Prey.

They thought so little of prey. They could do that. They. Not Gabu. They. He was they. But he... was him.

The contradictions weren't what disturbed his sleep. That would be too easy, too simple to resolve. Understanding a pack was an illusion, mammals coming together to appear to be one but being themselves deep down. That was the issue. It worked when there was nothing to worry about. The pack always had something to worry about, because not all wolves liked playing up their strong and forward nature. He was an ill fit at the best of times, smiling wryly and hoping it would magically fix itself. The power of the pack would soothe him. Cure him of the pain that came from being a moral mammal that thought he could push it all away with sheer will.

As sleep started to take him his dreams began to gather, reality and memory fading into one another. His dreams were not wild fantasies, not always. Memories, of regrets or happiness, could play out in his head freely and easily. To his good fortune he thought about a time he got hurt, and a smile spread across his face. It was a bad storm, with hail, a rare occurrence. It caught everyone by surprise. Howling wind, the stinging pelts of ice, the slick floors...

o o o

He had been stupid, participating in idiotic dares in the dangerous conditions. They were prep students. They were supposed to be smarter than that. Book smarts, not common sense. He felt himself go down. The pain in his paw was brief, if only because the pain in his head was distracting. It wasn't a bad hit, but he was dazed. Though the pack was not exactly kind, they were smart enough to know that it looked good to take Gabu to the infirmary.

The slight daze made everything sort of melt into moments. The most clear thing he could recall was the nurse, a matronly gnu, who was bandaging his head and his paw. "You're lucky, Mr. Akayama. I'm sure this was all a natural accident. No break, no concussion. Just a knock and a sprain. We'll call your parents and inform them about this. You can rest for today and your parents will schedule a regular examination. Oh, and keep it down, one of your fellow students had a genuine accident. Windblown debris and a fall too. Sun and earth willing we won't have more. She's in the next cot and needs her rest."

Silence fell. The nurse had her own private office that she went into, dealing with paperwork and leaving Gabu alone. But not quite alone. By the side of his cot was a cloth divider. He faintly heard breathing on the other side, and couldn't get an idea of who was on the other side by silhouette, as most of the light was either from above or just barely on his side. Even smelling got him nothing. Not only had the cold given his hose some stuffing, the office smelled of antiseptic and killed any possible traces of the other mammal.

He just laid back, his paw and head faintly throbbing but not hurting much, with decreasing pain as the low-dose painkiller he got went to work. He was going to be substantially alone for the day, the pack wasn't going to be seeing about him. Strength was assumed. It was looking to be a boring day.

As the time ticked away a stirring came from the other cot and a small sound came from beyond the divider. Gabu was determined to mind his own business, but also didn't feel like simply spending his time brooding. He wasn't like... well, he tried not to think deeply on the personalities of the other pack members. So, with a tentative voice he said, "Some storm, isn't it?" What an idiot. The most stock of lines. But, teens with book smarts were on equal footing. Maybe she wouldn't know it was pathetic.

"Oh! I didn't know someone else was here. Did you get hurt too?" The voice seemed small, high, very sweet. The concern was genuine. Something about it was just nice and comforting.

"Ha ha... yes. But don't feel so bad about me. Just being stupid. Friends are a bad influence sometimes..." Gabu confessed.

"Mmm! Yes. Always so wild, challenging, butting heads over and over just to try and get some kind of status," the girl said. "I wasn't hurt by that, the wind is very strong, I got stinging hail in my eyes and was blown down onto my back."

"Ouch! I'm so sorry," Gabu said. Even if he was also hurt, he still felt for her. She didn't deserve it. She hadn't been doing idiotic things. A thought crossed his mind and he added, "I'm Gabu. Gabu Akayama."

"May! May Greystone. So nice to meet you. But... I've never heard of you," she said, almost apologetically. "We go to the same school and everything."

Gabu laughed softly, rubbing his head a little. "I'm not important enough for that. I guess that's why I have to be with all my friends. I... protect what I am by never being alone..."

"I... I want to be myself. But mother always told me to be safe around others. I'm small and I need the help of everyone around me," May said with a sigh. "It's not always easy, but it's always safe."

_'Spoken like a true wolf,'_ Gabu thought. He could already picture her. Short, thin, weak, pale. The old ones would have called her omega. They still knew the name even if the bad old days were millennia dead. He felt compassion for her, if nothing else. A sorry thing to be. He couldn't quite recall other wolves like that but his pack was very masculine. There were others not so restrictive. Probably why they had never met. They were a better class of moneyed, a better class of wolf. "Mother, yes. She knew I was never going to be anything too special, not like I was. She wanted to make sure I could stand up, have some kind of position. I needed to be in one big mass, solid and secure."

Later on, May had told him what she had thought of him in that moment. That he was exactly the kind that her friends would have swooned over. Not her, but they would have. She understood him, though. What he said was just what she expected someone to say if they were like she imagined. "It's always like that, isn't it? We're never enough just as us. The way our kind are, we always have to lean on someone just to get along."

"Not... not always. We can try to go alone. But I don't think that's strong all the time. Even the ones alone usually aren't actually alone," Gabu said. They had friends, but not a pack. Had someone to love, maybe.

"I know how other species do it. They don't need to get together like that. They live together and still have themselves," May said, sounding slightly down. "I'm happy I have them around, but my friends can't be everything for me. B-but I'm still glad that they brought me here when I got hurt!"

"Mine did too, I got a sprain and a little knock on the head. Doing dumb things because I was dared," Gabu said.

"It's always like that. That's how you break things and sprain things and get concussions, all because dumb friends dare you," May said, suddenly stern. Not quite indignant, but passionate.

Gabu was slightly taken aback. Yet not at all upset at the chastisement. She was entirely right. Even richer and fancier wolves had their stupid members and still did things that were ridiculous. "You really see though it. I'm impressed. Book smart preps aren't always common-smart, you know?"

"I just... it doesn't make any sense. I wish it just stopped. So we could be nice to each other, peaceful. Like the Tenders tell us on Frededas," May softly said.

Just like everyone else in the city. But like a small number, she actually listened. His friends would say that only omegas needed to listen to the Church, they were the ones that needed it. They didn't even know what the word was all about. She understood the need. Mammals couldn't treat each other like that. It never did any good. "I, uh... sorry. Is this bothering you?"

"No, no. I was done sleeping. And I don't want to just lie here in the dark, that's boring. I'm glad someone is here. Ah! I mean... sorry... I don't mean I'm glad you got hurt..."

"No, no, I understand. I... almost didn't talk when I heard you wake up. I didn't want to feel so alone," Gabu admitted, turning to the divider again. He thought he could almost see her. He knew what to expect. Pale gray, maybe white, thin, small. Delicate features. Someone would like her. One of the pack might think to take advantage of her. Would protecting her from that make him a bad mammal? If he knew they'd try to hurt her, what could he do? They weren't there. It really didn't matter. "Are you going to be sent home early or are you just here for the day?"

"My parents are going to get me after school is out. It's not serious but they might take me to the doctor."

"Same here. So we have a lot of time. Do you, um... have a favorite restaurant?" Cheap. Stupid. She's a wolf. Not the type to hit on. But it was the only line that came to his suddenly empty head.

May laughed, a sweet, musical sound. "Don't make me choose! I'm so cliché, but I'll just eat everything. It all goes in but I never get bigger. If you're not careful I'll nibble on your apple sticks and your napkin too."

A ravenous wolf in a small body. They're always the same. Where it all goes, no wolf knows. That was the truth. The skinny wolves never gained a gram and went to every restaurant. They always liked fruit, too. They ate like foxes, muzzles in sweet fruit bowls as well as the shrimp special. "I don't know if you've ever been in Tanukitown, but I always go to Kuzunoha Ramen. The lunch special makes for a nice treat when you need to feed a group."

May laughed again, and at the time Gabu lamented how beautiful it was. He would have loved to keep hearing it, but she wasn't for him, so far as he knew. "I've been there several times. But I mostly went to the Neko No Seimei Cafe. It's easy to treat everyone at a cafe, just buy a pot of tea. Bitter and green, it's refreshing."

Bitter green tea. His mother drank it like water. Father too. He hadn't gotten the taste, but of course a rich and sophisticated wolf would pick up the habit. His friends would be all over her like a fresh fillet of sole. A good reason to never mention this happened. "My parents love that. They try to get me to but... I don't know, it tastes like the herbs I have to eat if my stomach is bothering me."

"I can tell the difference, but I see. I hate that too. I'd never eat them on purpose, but I know some do. I bet if I took you to the cafe I could get you to like it. It's about how you drink. And maybe adding a little honey.," May said with a little chuckle.

Gabu chuckled himself and considered it. Could she tell what he was? He learned the truth later. But in that moment there was a question. Someone was making a mistake, he thought. But to be free from the pack, for a little while, with someone actually nice, it had a certain appeal. And no pressure, on his end. "I'm almost inclined to take you up on that. I think I might learn to like it."

"I don't want you to think this is a date," May suddenly said, sounding slightly nervous. Classy and quality, she wouldn't pick up some injured idiot in the nurse's office.

"That's not a problem, I wasn't thinking of it," Gabu said. It was true. He was in no danger of falling for her. Just friends. Just tea. "Just friends. Just tea. You seem nice."

"Even if you say you do what your friends want, get rough and all... you seem nice too," May replied. "Tomorrow, noon?"

"That's perfect. Oh! You can't see me right now... and even if I could recognize you that's not very nice. I don't want to disturb your privacy. I had to get out of my wet clothes to get bandaged," Gabu said, lightly rubbing his head. His imagination wasn't exactly racing but he had a good idea what he'd see.

"Oh! Does your mother wash your uniforms on Sundas or Frededas?"

"Usually Frededas, so they're nice and clean for the week. Why?" Gabu asked.

"If you don't mind wearing one of the used uniforms one more day, we can wear our uniforms, so we'll know we're the right ones. And just to make sure... do you think you can find something with a four-leaf clover on it? Maybe a necklace or bracelet or something. That way we can be completely sure," May said resolutely.

Clover. That would certainly set them apart from other predators. The uniforms would help but an extra later never hurt. "Sounds good. I'll ask my mother for a little extra money. I know they have food there. Maybe I could get you to try what we usually get if they have a similar menu."

"I'll try anything, I promise," May giggled. "Really... I'm not happy either of us got hurt. But it... it's not bad to make friends, is it?"

Gabu shifted on his cot, getting comfortable, as it really seemed like the conversation was slowing down. "No, not bad at all. I hope you don't mind, but you had a good idea. Some sleep might make time go faster. And I'll hurt less."

"Good idea. Thank you for talking to me, and for agreeing to do this," May said with a small yawn.

"Not a problem at all. I'll probably miss your parents coming for you. So I'll see you tomorrow..." Gabu said, settling down more and letting himself drift off.

He had been right. His parents arrived first and took him before he could tell May goodbye. After a quick checkup he was told roughly the same as he had been at school. Just a hard hit to the head with no actual concussion, and he didn't need a cast but got the wrap on his ankle changed. He also got admonished by the doctor when he was forced to admit how he got hurt. His parents scolded him even harder when they got home. He wasn't shy about tucking and folding his ears, begging, pleading for the freedom to go to Tanukitown to have tea with May. He likely only succeeded because it was for tea in a very classy location. He was warned to actually follow through and not just meet his friends. Asking for something with a clover on it really locked it up.

So it was that Gabu strolled over to the cafe, only slightly limping, leaning on a single crutch. He knew where it was but had never been inclined to stop. He was dressed in the cleanest uniform he had, khaki slacks, white short-sleeved button-up shirt, yellow and blue striped tie, and a blue vest. The weather in that part of the city was nice, and it was appropriate. He had managed to add to things with a pin he managed to scrounge up, a four-leaf clover that he attached to his tie. A little silly but it worked. His eyes scanned the tables to seek a matching clover and uniform.

Time almost ground to a halt as they both seemed to notice each other simultaneously, each noticing the clovers before really seeing who they were attached to. Long khaki skirt with pleats, white shirt, blue vest, a yellow and blue ribbon done up in a bow. But she wasn't a pale, skinny, small wolf. She stood on split trotters, her hooves ended in fingers capped with keratin, little horns peeked from her forehead, and a cute little beard dangled off of her chin. And yes, attached to the vest, a four-leaf clover pin. Family bovidae, not a wolf. She wasn't just friend material. She was his type.

Her eyes traced him, examined his brown fur spiked back in a way that marked him as part of the pack. The slightly big nose that made him self-conscious. He was slim and bordered on gangly, just close enough to being an omega that having a pack at all was sometimes hinted at being a favor. Her caprine eyes were wide in surprise. Because of his teeth. She had expected a horn-headed idiot that rammed his head into everything. She had wanted to be safe. Her gaze wasn't safe. Gabu had never seen a look go from disbelieving to hungry, not from prey. For as meek and mild as her little white body looked, she knew what she was, same as him. It wasn't safe friends being friendly.

One of them was going to have to admit, it had become a date before Gabu had even sat down.

The mood became tense as soon as he approached, despite the potential for breaking the awkward tension when a wah waitress approached and handed him a menu. May's call was lost on him, but she escorted him over to the table, allowing both of them to get a better look at each other. Coming closer didn't make her cute caprinity go away. If anything it made her more pretty. He could see the silken strands of her adorable goatee were cared for and conditioned to perfection. Her horns were shaved and buffed to their size. The small fur puff atop her head was swept and combed into a gentle tuft. Her sideways pupils were big and dark and more contrasted by her beautiful but muted green irises.

He almost could have believed he had been mistaken about how she was reacting to him. He wasn't lucky enough to find a beautiful goat that could look at a nobody wolf like that. But when she met his wide blue eyes her pupils got just a bit bigger. She wasn't afraid. It had to be the opposite.

Even after sitting down, silence was the order of things, interrupted by the murmuring of the other diners and the traffic sounds on the fitted brick streets. He broke the tension, tentatively managing to get out," M-m-may?"

She nodded, quickly. Too quickly. Her eagerness was in her face, in her eyes. She wanted it all to be true. "Gabu?"

Another interruption gave them time to gather everything. The wah came back to take their orders, probably eager to get the table moving. May had probably specifically said there was a guest coming. Tea, green, a large pot, plus, oddly, raw honeycomb. Gabu wasn't silent, he worked on instinct, getting a large bowl of shrimp udon. A challenging meal for one, a filling gift for two.

"I'm not... this lucky," Gabu said, gently rubbing the sore spot on his head and adjusting the crutch against the edge of the table. "It's good to see you, finally. I never... I thought you were something else."

The light in May's eyes all but died with that one statement. She looked gutted for the briefest of moments. Her face was a mask of cheer, white as porcelain almost as a highlight to the artificiality. "What did you think? I... I thought you were another goat. I thought you were in a herd, headbutting other goat boys and being stupid."

"Wolf packs aren't that much smarter than goat herds I guess," Gabu said. "You said... you said you'd eat anything, like a ravenous wolf. That you were in a pack because you were small and pale and weak."

"Mother warned me to stay in a herd because I was small, and weak. I'm not helpless, but it's... so much easier to go along with the herd," May said, trying to keep a lilt in her voice. "A goat will eat anything if you put it in front of them. It's a joke they'd eat a can but if there's some sauce on a napkin I really might eat it if I'm hungry enough."

To go on with the light in her eyes gone was not something Gabu wanted. He knew he was wrong. He had been mistaken about what he saw in her gaze. That he was the only one to think that way. But he couldn't go on washed in a look without brightness. "I was happier when I thought you were a wolf. It would be safe. It wouldn't be a date. I don't... don't feel anything for wolves..."

"And goats?" May pierced him with her gaze, pinned him down like a dissected frog.

Gabu weakly smiled. "Family bovidae. When you're well-off you can take any test you want as many times as you want. They wanted my orientation axises, so they could give me the best chance in life. Where did my attraction reach? Family bovidae. I keep that with me always, how clinical it sounded when they read the results. Cattle, oxen, sheep..."

"Family canidae," May said, a smile pulling up the corners of her mouth, life coming back to her eyes. "Sometimes, mammals can be that lucky."

The beauty of the glow in her gaze struck Gabu speechless for a moment. He had been talking to her so smoothly, so easily to her the other day. He even gave her the cheapest of lines. All because he didn't know he should have been petrified by her. Talking to a pretty goat was difficult. Talking to one that actually had a reason to look on him with the gaze he was getting...

They traded glances for a time, until the wah returned with a rather large tray and a folding stand. She arranged the table very carefully, setting the large bowl of thick noodles directly in the center and placing a set of chopsticks on Gabu's side and a plastic fork on May's side. The teapot was set beside the bowl and two ceramic cups were set down in front of each of them. A plate containing a slab of honeycomb and a dainty fork went beside the teapot, and next to that, a small plate with two almond cookies.

"Miss! We didn't order these," Gabu said, lifting the cookies from the table.

The wah laughed softly. "A gift to celebrate your first date."

"But, but we're not..." Gabu began.

The look the wah gave him could have punched through plates of solid steel. She was clearly not a woman that tolerated being lied to. "To celebrate your first date."

Gabu set the plate down and dropped his head. "Thank you. It's appreciated."

The look vanished, replaced with a smile as the reddish woman walked away. May could only laugh and reach across to start pouring the tea for herself, after cutting a piece of honeycomb into her cup. "I didn't know. I thought you were a goat. Maybe I was hoping I could just make a new friend. Just a friend. I don't want to be locked into a herd. But I don't want to be alone."

"It's no better being in a pack, especially not... when they expect things," Gabu mumbled, sliding out the chopsticks and cracking them apart. He casually mixed the udon and shrimp, wrapping a few thick noodles around the sticks. "I hope you don't mind they gave you a fork, and I hope you don't mind shrimp. I was just saying what came to mind."

"I told her I wanted a fork when the time came. And I wasn't kidding. It's a hard sell for some, but goats will really eat anything, and I'm always interested," May said, casually making a cup of tea for Gabu. She cut a large chunk of the honeycomb and slowly poured the tea over the comb, watching it carefully as it melted slowly under the hot liquid. She used the back end of the fork to give it a stir before passing it along.

Gabu smiled a bit and took a slow, small sip. It was still bitter, a very strong green tea. But the honey had a very unique floral taste, it was nicely sweet, and the dissolved wax gave the whole thing a different feel from usual. "Mmm, delicious..."

"It's the small things that really matter sometimes," May said, sipping her tea daintily. She used the provided plastic fork to blatantly spear a shrimp and consume it, chewing thoughtfully. "Mild. Nice broth, I love salty broth."

"Oh yes, I think this is a quality place too. At Kuzunoha they use mineral lick salt, it's... better..." Gabu's stumbling speech was cut off slowly by May giving him an adorable lopsided smile, looking amused.

"They wanted to give you the best chance in life. I thought they were steering you away from what you liked. No... they bought you books, didn't they? _A Gentlemammal's Guide To Interspecies Dating_ or something like that. They taught you about salt licks and all of that. Right?" May asked in her cheerful bleat.

"Don't look at my search history," Gabu said with a laugh. "Do goatees fall off? Are the horns okay to touch? Did you know there was a famous goat and wolf couple? The new hall at the big PUCA sanctuary is named after them."

"I didn't know that! That's... that's really nice," May said, taking a sip of her tea.

The rest of what was, indeed, a date went smoothly, with small talk. They shared the udon, they drank the pot of tea, and at the very end, they ate the almond cookies. That was putting a cap on the whole thing. The wah had been right. Between the two they paid for the meal and left a good tip. They strolled the streets for a time, and took selfies by various things, statues and signs and the torii arches by the shrine. The pictures went first to their respective parents, out of respect on May's part and out of sheer joy on Gabu's.

When they parted it was only after the tram ride back to the Savannah Central station, which was where both could be picked up. May wanted to help Gabu but he didn't need it. He did wait until her father drove up, withering under the stern billy's intense gaze before he drove off with a deep, booming, bleating laugh. Apparently, he passed muster.

The whole drive back home he was talking about the date, his mother nodding and asking questions about his manners and bearing. She was approving of how he had acted and offered tips about how all women would like to be treated. She also said his father would offer his own input later, on how to be the most gentlemammally wolf possible. That got Gabu's attention. Because he was certain of one thing after the date he had just gone on.

Gentlemammal wolves weren't packed delinquents.

o o o

Sleep may have taken him, his dreams may have shown the beautiful things he treasured. But his eyes popped open. He wasn't always good. He had participated in intimidation and bullying, from the back. That was no excuse. He could have said no, could have walked away. But in those days he needed the pack. He would silently condone theft, abuse, vandalism, and destruction. They marked up areas they wanted to show dominion over with paint, thankfully. Only one actually used the ancient way, but that was a bridge too far for everyone else, and never happened again.

Every crying face, every indignant but powerless mammal, every pained yelp and plea for help was burned into his mind. May made it happen. He was happy to anesthetize himself to it, make himself believe he had actually forgotten, that it was all over and done. May's honesty had made him want to be better. And that meant remembering, making sure he would never be involved with anything like that ever again. Which also meant that while he was still in the pack, he spent far more time with the herbivore students, with May's herd. A wolf among goats.

They didn't trust him. They had little reason to. He had always kept his face out of things, but he recognized a few of them. A chubby one, a skinny one, targets for the pack. He had apologized to them personally. Even with no blame directly he had been part of the problem. The relationship wasn't instant, but it became cozy. And that was when he made a choice that changed everything. When he stuck to his new principles.

o o o

He cared little for the pack anymore. But without say-so, there was no leaving it. He didn't even pay attention to things involved with it, which made it so much of a surprised when, while changing his books over between classes they surrounded his locker, and looked down at him. "Getting close to the easy prey, aren't you? Wallets fat with that that... wool, eh? Clever, Gabu. Useful." The leader. Hector, a light brown wolf. He wasn't long for the school if he kept things up. One major infraction and they could expel him.

"It's not for that. I'm done hurting mammals," Gabu insisted, slamming his locker for emphasis. It moved none of them. He then noticed a gap in the pack. "Wait... where's..?"

"Don't change the subject!" Hector snarled. "You don't leave unless I say. And a wolf that's suddenly useful won't have my say-so for a long while, not until I've wrung out that usefulness from you, only then can I throw you away to those bleating nobodies. They won't want you anymore, least of all that snow-white winter coat you hold hands with in the halls. But that's not my problem, only yours. Packs share problems. Lone wolves are their own problems."

"The pack _**is**_ my problem... _**was**_ my problem. But not anymore," Gabu snarled, attempting to push his way through the others, but finding himself grabbed and slammed back into the lockers.

"Strength in numbers, rule one for wolves," Hector said, smooth and calm. "And each member is of use to the pack, making it better and stronger. If you want to succeed, you must be strong. So, perhaps you can tell us about who is most vulnerable? Who has the most to give, who would be easy to intimidate. Be of use to us, Gabu, or learn the consequences of refusal."

"You can't make me!" Gabu growled, getting a quick gut punch from Hector.

"You know their weakness, their vulnerability. Bleating sweaters on the trotter. Think they're so high and mighty for their flat teeth and inoffensive ways. They're just as violent as us, they bash their heads together and no one comments. They need to learn," Hector snarled.

"You can't! I won't let you!"

"Tell us all about where they hang out, where they congregate. You're there with that sickeningly sweet bearded snowdrop. All their favorite places, how to keep them from getting out. No, it won't be what you think. You noticed the one who might think that isn't here. But let's say that Ivan managed to make a deal to pick up some... less desirable fish bits. No one will miss not eating it. That should take the wind out of them. No one's immune to utter humiliation. And we'll keep you out of it, a gift, the strength of the pack," Hector said sternly.

"I'll be right there. I won't tell you anything. I'm not going to make it easy on you. So what if some of them act high and mighty? May doesn't. May cares about me, May wants me to be a better wolf, not like you, not like the ones in the herd that beat their heads together. I don't butt and I won't bite, so just leave me out of this," Gabu demanded, finally forcing his way through the blockade of bodies.

"We've seen you!" Hector shouted. He smirked and turned his head slightly. "We've seen you. Show some loyalty. We took you in, gave you friendship. Then you meet some sniveling grass-muncher and you abandon us. Even if you don't tell us where and who, we know fairly good times. We were offering you an escape. The guts are ripening near, where we can get them and use them. You were warned, and this will come back on you. You got one last mercy. Don't show up with your goats, and the pack may want you back. You saw there was one empty space already. You can choose to avoid making it two."

His thoughts raced as they slowly strolled away, looking smug, confident. Their insufferable swagger was what he used to think he wanted. He wanted to do good things, free from the anonymity of a pack. He could stand on his two paws, if May would stand beside him. He wanted to do what she wanted him to do, because she had his interests at heart. There was only one thing to do. The most taboo thing for any serious wolf-culture promoter. The worst thing a pack member could do.

He betrayed the pack.

o o o

Betrayal. That didn't make him feel guilty. He felt justified. Vindicated. It all worked out. The plan to humiliate the goats was stopped. Hector was expelled. It was never stated that they didn't just get lucky. They suspected he was the one that told the teachers. Hector was sure of it. But the rest couldn't make a move without absolute proof. The last little lingering bit of respect they gave him for being part of the pack once.

Doing the right thing was never easy. And doing the questionably right thing was harder. In hindsight, it had caused some problems, but some things needed to be said, and other things needed to be done. It was essential. Maybe it could change something, remote as the possibility could be.

One last memory lulled him to sleep. Doing just that. Yes, it gave the pack proof, it led to that day, when Mapigano asserted himself. But that led to everything that came after. A rough patch but a good thing. More friends, better friends. Not a pack, not a herd. Just friends. That was worth smiling about.

o o o

Between Hector being expelled and Mapigano coming to make trouble, there was an uneasy peace. Gabu had worries, but they never manifested. The pack let him be, stung as they were, needing to look inoffensive and mild. One didn't get the memo, who wasn't part of the pack anymore either. Gabu had forced his way out. But he had noticed the vacancy that day of confrontation.

**He** had been thrown out.

Not for betrayal, not for going too far, though he was the one that often wanted to, not for attacking the members of the pack or any sensible thing that should have seen him expelled. He had annoyed them so badly that they finally got rid of him just to give themselves some peace. Tough, punky delinquents could resist tears and fear and anger, but would not tolerate the equivalent of perpetual claws on a chalkboard screeching in whiny tones across their ears. He managed to escape trouble merely by virtue of being too much of a pain in the caudal region to stay a part of things.

But since the two had left the pack, that wolf seemed to think they were the same. Gabu had no sympathy for him, and no desire to trade on a single point of commonality, especially since he found him especially annoying, unbearable even. He understood too well what was annoying about him, and that made his presence all the more irritating.

It was after gym, after almost everyone had left the locker room. It was the last class of the day for some of them, like Gabu, so he often took his time. He got clean, dried off, took time dressing. May always waited for him, so he could walk with her to the bus stop, and take the bus until they needed to part. He wanted to look as nice as he could for her.

It often was he was the very last one there in the locker room, allowing him the peace to tend to himself. But he wasn't alone that day. The hackles rose as he could sense the aggravating presence, the annoyance was nearly palpable. He had hoped he was alone, free of all the baggage of the pack. But the worst thing about being free, he seemed to attract the other shed component like a magnet.

"You. You're like me." Bela Farkas. Unnaturally tall, unwholesomely skeletal (odd for a glutton), unhealthily washed-out, perpetually dark-eyed either from late nights or liner. A wreckage of a wolf shambling through the world like an animated corpse. That he was nearly down to his fur and only in a towel was an added layer of disturbing. "It's a tragedy in motion. We're lone wolves, drifting together because of the way we are, the way we approach the world."

"Leave the lyrics to those bands you always push on mammals, at least they can be entertaining," Gabu said with a roll of his eyes.

"I mean it, Gabu. You and I absolutely are the same. The pack wants nothing to do with either of us, and now we're out of it. We have a connection, you and I. We survive on our own power. I've finally come to see that I need to stop cringing, selling myself to prey, and be a real wolf," Bela snorted.

"Don't bother me anymore, Bela, and don't talk down prey," Gabu huffed. "I left the pack for a reason and at the time that meant leaving you. If I knew Hector had planned to throw you out I would have thrown a party before I left. We're all real wolves you chattering idiot; even if I only had one drop of wolf blood in me I'd still be a wolf as much as the Wulfberg offspring. Don't peddle your purism or I swear on the moon I'll get you expelled. There's no place for that here."

"Don't hand me that, there's always something going on. We are what we are and must be that. We have to be able to know what we are inside," Bela asserted.

"I'm Gabu Akayama, I used to be an idiot that hurt other mammals because the pack said so. I'm a straight-B student, I'm not picked last for dodgeball, my girlfriend, May, thinks I'm nice. I tolerate green tea with honeycomb, I kind of like udon over soba despite what others say, and I don't connect to anything on TV or in movies about high school, I'm already living it. If you don't know that much about yourself you're pathetic," Gabu proudly said, tying his tie in the mirror for the third time. He had left out that he was a mess at tying a necktie. Not everything was important.

"Tch, girlfriend. What a lie. Even with someone we are a million miles apart. I saw love once and it never came. My nature, the real nature, the way of the wolf, what we are, Gabu, that can't allow us to be with prey. Be with other mammals. We are to our own kind alone, and the burning we feel is the hunger we still have, to take and conquer. Savagery. A gnawing in the pit of our stomachs," Bela said, with a kind of husky rumbling.

Gabu rolled his eyes, messing up his tie again as his fingers flexed from frustration. "Were you passed out when the savagery crisis hit? That was a terrorist attack by Mayor Bellwether. They went nuts because some insane sheep tagged them with poison. I don't know where you get this idiocy but that's another reason I'm glad I got away from your kind."

"You are my kind," Bela insisted, standing up suddenly, looming like a skeletal tree over Gabu, fangs shining in the dim light of the locker room. "We're the same, Gabu, start to finish. You feel it. The ceaseless, gnawing hunger that you feel, the desire to taste that goat's blood. That's what pounds in your temples and races your heart. You want the old days, the ancient days, when Lupercalia was raw and fiery and bloody. Even if no one died they were true to their desire, not giving love notes and chasing laughing goats around with flower garlands. This is always in the heart of predators. Fyodor Medvedevsky s-"

"Give me a break!" Gabou practically howled, turning his annoyed gaze on Bela, looking up fearlessly at him. His height meant nothing. "You're the _worst_ critical reader in the class and you know you're going to fail it because you can't help but insist you're always seeing what isn't there. You only quote him because he was as wrong as you! You only ever read things that make you look right. Even if it goes against what actual mammals say. Do you think he talked to the mammals he was writing about? No! You're so selfish and self-absorbed..."

"You've always hated learning. I'm amazed you read," Bela spat back, sniffing proudly. "I stopped being as timid and preyish as you, listened to Hector and the rest when they said to be a wolf. I wanted to mark my territory, show my fangs, be savage as our kind were meant to be! That time when I was a fool can be forgotten, that proof that the ravenous hunger divides predator and prey, that I shoved a mistake away."

"That rabbit from Iriomote would have dated you. She was actually an Outsider, and didn't bother to hide it. I don't know what signals you failed to read, but if my number didn't stop at bovidae I would have been the one. Was being a creepy Nice Mammal too important to you? I don't know when you turned from just another emo floor-looker to this new thing but all this savagery spoor makes you look like a psychopath, like that sheep."

"That plant did nothing, it released the darkness from inside mammals, showed predators the real truth, that we are but creatures of blood and desperation, led by instinct and the drive to dominate or cower. She feared me. She would never have been with me, those huge eyes looking at me like I was a freak..." Bela seethed.

"You came on too strong one night, like any other creeper. If... if one of May's friends had come on as strong she would have maced him. He's also got weapons attached to him. Your fangs and his horns are different only in sharpness. But I guess she was right about one thing. You're a creep. You turned into an eye-lined creep. Maybe instinct is real. She knew you were damaged," Gabu growled, giving up on his tie.

"I feel things sharply! My senses are attuned to the real world! I smell the fear of prey, the arrogance of predators out to cut the throats of their competition," Bela insisted, standing in Gabu's way. "That's why we're the same. You say I'm terrible at critical reading but I get the messages loud and clear. WE, now, have the most clarity, as we see the world without the blinders of adulthood, without the lie of civility. We have nothing but our anger and our sorrow, the raw and real. We wander in a grassland, trying to tell, those like you and me. We're the special ones, the better ones who know this lie. Embrace it! Take that little goat you hunger for, slather over, wrap your arms around her and remember what you really are! The old days, the truth behind the lie of civilization! Claws to scratch and teeth to taste the blood standing on her whi-"

Taller or not, Gabu was still large enough to reach Bela's jaw. The talk about all of that had been annoying. It gnawed at him. But to hear the lanky creep dare to even talk about May like a nothing, like... like **meat** , as if she was a fish or a lizard. Speaking of red blood standing on her silken snow white fleece. He was never a scrapper, never an abuser like the others. But even an idiot like him could throw a punch. His healthy form had enough muscle to really clock the scrawny scarecrow, slamming his head to the side and knocking the nearly-naked stringbean off to the side, into a bank of lockers and down onto his rear.

"Don't you _**ever**_ talk about May like that again! You're pathetic! The adult lie of civilization? Civilization is why we can take buses on paved roads to climate-controlled condos and watch television while we use our phones to video chat with the girlfriends who are allowed to be any species that wants to be in a relationship! Don't ever vomit out that stupid Holden Maulfield pretentiousness again! I'm sick of the posturing and abuse and I'm even more sick of you and your creeper ways! I wish that you HAD still been in the pack when I told the teachers, so they would have suffered through having you and so you could have been sent to the school shrink. She could have helped you, or thrown you someplace. Maybe Imboca Bay. Keep talking like that and you'll kill someone someday, I can feel it!

"I'm done. Only warning. May has made sure I'm not an abusive idiot. I'm not a savage, I'm a Zootopian. But don't keep telling me I'm like you. That's not a statement that's a curse, thinking I could become you. Grow up, Bela. For real, you nightmare in wolf's clothing... grow up. I'm going to walk out. And we'll see each other. But never talk to me ever again." Picking up his bag, Gabu walked away, not deigning to look at the scandalized and angry Bela.

He was the one that told. Thought he could buy his way back into the pack's good graces. They rejected him, of course, but strung him along a bit, until Mapigano's humiliation, when he absolutely destroyed Bela, calling him even worse things. If that was savagery, maybe there was some use for it somewhere. Somehow.

Gabu walked out of the locker room, putting on a smile. The sight of May's waving goatee and horizontal pupils always made him happy. She gamboled over to him and immediately set to doing his tie. "Gabu... you need to learn to do this."

"An old packmate annoyed me too much. Besides, I think it's nicer if you do it for me, you're better," Gabu said with a laugh, bending down to make it easy for her.

"I'm not there in the morning, silly," May giggled.

So vital. So sweet. So full of life and light. She had scooped up just another packed simpleton on the edge of being the weak-tea modern equivalent of a savage and made it okay to give in to the goodness and kindness he had in his heart. "Well... someday. I don't want to think about a future where that doesn't happen."

"Gabu..." May adjusted the tie and leaned in to kiss his nose, tickling his lips with her wiggly goatee.

He kissed the little length of hair, subtly tasting the conditioner, a hint of dressing from lunch, and May. No bloodlust thrummed in his veins. No hunger gnawed at his belly. Love did fill his heart. Maybe that was the difference. There was no room to thirst for blood and hunger for flesh if something was already filling what would be that vacuous emptiness. "Let's go, I hope I didn't make us miss the bus."

"Dad will drive us if we did. He likes you, he just likes to watch your ears fall," May said happily, walking on hand-in-hoof with Gabu.

"Ha... I noticed. Well, that's okay too. A few jokes never hurt, as long as he's nice. It all works out," Gabu said, casually strolling along, hand-in-hoof with May. Untroubled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lupercalia- It's been mentioned in other stories, associated with wolves. By implication, it was once a bloody Pagan rite, likely involving whipping of goats in celebration of lupine nature. Goats and wolves, and possibly sheep and wolves depending on location, seem to have a strong association. At present it would appear to be something like a raucous Valentine's Day, playfully striking goats with flower garlands while everyone passes love notes. Usually same-species only. But clearly, not always. As I said elsewhere, you could look at it like a very small, culturally-identified celebration, like St. Patrick's Day before mainstreaming, or Cinco de Mayo, or like St. David's Day, or Tom Bawcock's Day. It means something to wolves that remember it. The Howlmeyer's do, Bela seems to, and since Gabu didd't question it, he must too.


	3. Networking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The staff of ZNN are very important. Very big. And very unsure.

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Three: Networking**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

"This has been your ZNN Vesper news. I've been Peter Moosebridge and from all of us here at ZNN, thank you, and enjoy your night."

"And we're clear," the programming director, a pig dressed in slacks and a button-up called, a bell ringing to set other mammals scrambling to check equipment and move the set a bit. For all that ZNN was considered upmarket, and a major power player in the megalopolis, the nuts and bolts weren't run on champagne and caviar. The faux elegant set was about the only fancy thing there was. Everything else was greenscreen and exposed scaffolds, catwalks and dolly tracks for cameras, all carefully out of view of said cameras. A small army of small and medium mammals went wild trying to keep it all good.

"Another good one. Plain, but good," Peter said, standing up from behind the desk and stretching out. His full height was quite enormous, his gangly moose legs tastefully hidden behind a pair of navy blue slacks. The posh look of him was preserved through hiding the fact that he was all legs and arms. He turned to that broadcast's partner, Michael Tanuyama and nodded. "Beats the panic broadcast. I don't know why everyone misses Bellwether's plague."

"Ratings, always ratings," Michael said with a smile. He was dressed in a similarly navy suit, with a very nicely designed oversized faux ginkgo leaf settled onto his head. "We are talking furniture, and good for business. We have gravitas and nothing else."

"Best paid furniture in the business," Peter laughed, subtly craning his neck around to glance at the folks scurrying around.

"She's upstairs preparing for the Seedsworth interview," Michael said. "The rumors about financing some kind of investigation are in need of getting ahead of."

"I was looking for craft services," Peter said with a double-barrel snort. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Same place, every time. Just talk to her," Michael insisted, making his way over to the table laden down with medium-grade pre-made sandwiches and snacks. Canapes that would have looked perfectly at home at a publicly witnessed fancy fundraiser or gala were much in evidence.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Peter said, stuffing his face in a very undignified manner.

"It can't hurt you to ask. More mammals can admit to being Outsiders these days, it's becoming more and more acceptable faster and faster," Michael noted.

"Maybe I have... certain inclinations my mother would not find appropriate. And yes, Michael, I realize I am a grown bull seen across the city-state. But I have immense respect for my mother, for my family. It is not a shame but they do look askance. I should feel it inappropriate but... they are my family. But why should I believe she could... she has no reason to," Peter said, with increasing sadness.

"Because you never ask!" Michael said, slightly raising his voice. He cleared his throat and reflexively adjusted his leaf. "Apologies. But I see you like this day in and out, and you never express a thing."

"I have my failings, Michael. Do you think it makes it any easier to realize it? And before you say it... no, I do not wish to find out if it hurts more to never know, or to be disappointed," Peter sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Our little lives don't count at all, or so they sing. Our loves and passions are of singular disinterest to the mammals that tune in to us. It would help nothing to learn of what the truth is."

"The truth is its own reward. You feel greatly for her. But you feel with no truth at all. Find it. Think on this, Peter. You have only sorrow already. What would be one more small stretch? After that, well, you can know where you stand, and perhaps seek out another..." Michael started.

"That easily, mm?" Peter asked with a slight edge.

"Not so easily at all," Michael said, reassuringly. "But no one ever lived well fixated on someone forever, pining away rather than leaning and going on. My family's Old Country has many good things, sometimes they import them. But the media there has... unrealistic expectations pushed by some of the main characters who magically get the girl if they wait long enough. You will not."

"I think we all know that as adults," Peter huffed. "No one takes that seriously."

"Stay in politics, friend. Never do social news," Michael wryly chuckled. "There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost. Just know... your maturity is admirable."

"Maturity is enforced in a family like mine," Peter said, looking at nothing far away. "With antlers and hooves, money comes with a great number of strings attached. Puppet strings parents will always wield. Even dead."

"I thought I was the only one controlled by kami long gone. But you still have it worse, your parents are still alive. I don't know what I intended..." Michael said, looking around suddenly, as if he had discovered himself in the middle of a new block with no idea how he even got there.

"You wanted me to be sensible. Well, you know what sense and sensibility really means. My sensibility is too strong because sentimentality mixes with with iron law. I should hate what I was raised in, and... I like to think I do. But guess who is far too weak to do anything else?" Peter asked with a sardonic laugh.

"I'm sure you will find a way out. Until then, I'm certain you can endure," Michael assured him.

Elsewhere in the ZNN building, Fabienne Growley was flipping through the notes she had compiled and the list of topic clusters that would be relevant to her interview. Several that had been suggested had been rather aggressively stricken out with red pen, her personal reminder to very clearly avoid those subjects. Family and personal relationship subjects never boded well in political chat. She was dressed as ever, a somewhat upmarket-casual look that was reasonably unique in the normally formal on-camera wardrobe. Her favorite leaf-print stretch chemise peeked through the open portion of her single-breasted truncated-sleeve suit jacket, whose dark color matched her midi pencil skirt.

The snow leopardess twitched slightly as a knock sounded at the door. A robust beaver woman in a headset with a belt of tools around her hips stepped in and looked at a clipboard. "Hope I'm not interrupting, there, but ya better get in your last reads, we're coming up on showtime. Peter's off the air, in case ya wanted a look-in before," she said in her heavy donchaknow accent, adding a wink after the last statement.

"Thank you for informing me and I have no idea what you might be implying, Mrs. Wuchak. Peter is a colleague and fellow presenter," Fabienne replied in her posh RP voice.

Mrs. Wuchak clicked her teeth and gave a chittering laugh. "Oh that's a laugher, there. Jeepers. Ya say my last name and ya think I can't see one-a my own kind right in front of my face?"

Fabienne laughed musically and shook her head a bit. "Well, Bernice, I can say you lack any sort of extrasensory perceptions. I regard Peter as a trusted and valuable colleague and I do quite enjoy doing the news with him. But it goes no further than that. Why would an old money moose have cause to look over at a relatively neuveau riche snow leopard. Why, how could I even be sure his scale reaches anywhere past hooves and antlers?"

"I didn't hear a no at the end of alla that," Bernice said with a click of her incisors.

"You are a persistent mammal, are you not?" Fabienne sighed, a smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. "I don't see how this conversation can go anywhere. Speculation will not change what Peter likes, so I may as well resign myself to the reality of the world."

"Great day in the mornin'! You can't give up just 'cause ya think it's too hard. Ya wouldn't even be here if ya didn't try," Bernice said with some force.

"Your passion comes from a place of experience, I know. But... Outsiders don't just come right out and say so in... real... life situ-" Fabienne's flip comment died when she went from a closed-eyed assertion to staring at Bernice.

Bernice was hitting her co-worker with the deadest, most painfully 'done' half-lidded, crook-mouthed look it was possible for the beaver to muster. "Really? Really, there? My husband didn't come up ta me at the bar and say ta me, _Keep talkin', I'm already in love but I want to see how much father it goes_? Do you know what a fisher can get if they're even half as handsome as my Nathaniel? If they're an Inter they can have minks and sables and even foxes! Not even the sand ones, arctics and fennecs. An Outsider can pull **way** better than than some transplant beaver with family in the Burrows. Does he say that? No, it's all golly gee willickers hon, you're so pretty, and, sweet jeepers I don't know how I got ta marry you. But they don't always say it. Ya gotta at least ask. That's what my Nathaniel did. We both got lucky."

"Your marriage seems... uniquely pleasant. Not merely for an Outsider couple. That is, you may well know, not the norm," Fabienne lamely stated.

"Oh it is. Even fer Outsiders. Almost all the marriages are quiet, you only know the bad ones that get on the TV. Good couples always get overlooked unless ya really look. Oh! Don't forget ta ask Mr. Seedsworth there about his lovely wolf bride," Bernice noted.

Fabienne scrunched up her nose and snorted. "Tch! Never. Rule one of political journalism. Never ask about the family. That's for tabloids and sub-tabloid muckrakers. Disgusting, distasteful. And to mention his Outsider relationship, why, that would be asking to be sued."

"Sweet cheese and crackers..." Bernice grumbled, facepalming with her clipboard. "It's not ten years ago when I met Nathaniel. It's not last year before that bunny and fox got married, not to mention Gazelle and her tiger. He's always talking about his hybrid lil tykes and his wife, wrongfully imprisoned. He wants ta talk about it, and that's good television."

"Have I grown so disconnected? I don't really keep pace with anything. I avoid certain topics on all media. I don't wish to know... anything about that which will never touch me," Fabienne sighed, altering her notes to try and make the strikeouts less aggressive, marking them as viable.

"Oh you really have got it bad for that moose," Bernice chuckled. "You can date anyone ya like, donchaknow? Maybe ya really, really like him but he's not the only antlerhead in the city. They may not be great but there's all kindsa them up in Meadowlands. Head out ta the Burrows. I hear the bank president's kids are both Outsiders that like felines. They're both moosen."

"Moose," Fabienne reflexively corrected. "I don't want just any moose... that is, I don't... you... I have no way to assure myself that I can have what it is I desire most. All mammals desire love, or near enough all to say so. But it seems so easy for everyone who is not like me. You know it. For all your charming tales your life with this Nathaniel of yours cannot be easy."

"Well o'course it isn't easy! That's not the point. I never said it was easy. But I always wanttcha ta remember that there's a big difference between easy and not hard. Easy is him cooking dinner every time and taking out the trash without getting asked. Not hard means we aren't at each others throats all the time, lyin' and calling it passion or somesuch when that's just waitin' on a chance ta kill each other when we least suspect it. We go together. And he had ta take a chance in the bar listenin' ta me with my funny accent jawin' on like cousin Brenda and laughin' like I got cedar chips stuck in my nose. He couldda failed too, just like that Gazelle song. That cow knows her onions. At least care about yer own life enough ta fail at it," Bernice said, checking her watch. "Now, enough jawin' with me, get on ta that lemming."

Fabienne nodded with a small smile. "Yes, of course." She sauntered out of the room into one of the sound-adjusted, plushly appointed interview rooms, the lights coming up and the cameras focusing in on Fanienne as well as the small dais set up across from her chair, on which stood a nattily dressed Cecil Seedsworth, the lemming looking as professional and put-together as ever.

"Miss Growley, I hope you understand I am a busy mammal. Being a politician and single father takes up an enormous amount of time. I agreed to this because perhaps, at some time, getting some information out will serve my purposes," Cecil said.

"Of course, Councilor Seedsworth. I assure you, this will not be a waste of your limited time," Fabienne said, waiting for the lights to indicate the cameras were rolling. "This is Fabienne Growley with a ZNN exclusive interview with City Councilor Cecil Seedsworth. Councilor, before we begin, let me just say, it's unfortunate that a dedicated public servant must be tasked with raising his children alone due to the improper harshness of the legal system separating you from your wife that you hold dear."

Cecil looked a bit taken aback but he regained himself and smiled. "Thank you, Miss Growley. So few understand what kind of pressure it is to properly care for triplets. And all because of the years and years of accumulated laws and traditions meant to be small bits of extra harshness for predators that were never pruned back. Because of this I feel it is essential that matters of harm against predators, especially disadvantaged ones, be addressed. Now as you know there are certain rumors starting..."

As Cecil spoke, Fabienne nodded, with her best newscaster face, looking down at her notes and occasionally up to Cecil, noticing Bernice behind him giving a buck-toothed smile and a thumbs-up.

o o o

The ZNN cafeteria and dining hall was very much like craft services. Though a step up from the standard corporate version it was not exactly a three-star restaurant with a resentful celebrity chef and suite of gold utensils. As with everything, it was nicely constructed utilitarian. The tables were metal and plastic but designer, looking as sleek and modern as the city's buildings. The queuing area had a granite counter and the entrees on offer actually looked like what they said they were. Fish with the right color, white or red, in a light sauce that added flavor and saved on costs. Roasted vegetables with seasonings or a grass medley. It was at least something, and a decent quality something.

Peter was rather enjoying his lunch, despite the rather odd look of it. The large bowl was filled with a murky broth of a semi-viscous constitution, clumps of limp grasses lurked beneath while floating mats of moss obscured the depths. He looked like he was eating a swamp with both a fork and a spoon. Ancient habits died hard. Moose liked the look of certain things. It was a delicious mix of a hearty malted broth, genuine imported healthy algae filled with vitamins and minerals, and a mix of tender marsh grasses and fescue all softened perfectly. He was at least eighty percent sure they served it mostly for him, a perk of his popularity.

He attempted to eat as clearly as possible, but proper manners for a moose required slurping, something he shared with Michael, who said that it was a sign of respect to slurp noodles loudly while eating. But the two of them were relatively rare in the building, and even if it matched manners in his own sphere he still got strange looks from other mammals. Because of that he didn't often have meals with anyone unless Michael happened to have a bowl of noodles that day.

"Oh! I... I understand that to be quite a popular thing to moose," Fabienne said, suddenly across from Peter with a tray of her own. Setting it down revealed it to be a thick slab of grilled salmon with a side of steamed grass and asparagus spears. "I see them sometimes at gala events."

"Mother, of course, taught me a good moose slurps his malted soup and makes sure he chews nice and long, like our ancestors," Peter said, doing his level best to be calm and even. Even if he was caught between running away and asking her out.

"Old money has so many traditions. Manners were important but we were never so serious, just proper for public encounters in the upper reaches," Fabienne said, daintily cutting her fish and consuming the piece with a bit of asparagus and some grass.

"All cultures have unique elements," Peter said, head low, eyes low, suddenly aware of how his dipped head allowed his antlers to point out toward Fabienne. A turn of his head and a lean could have almost tapped her. "Are you ready for continuing coverage? Coming off the Day updates into the Vesper broadcast. Hard to believe this."

"Could it really be true? I never thought about it, I never worked with any of either but I had always heard a rumor that lions and hyenas disliked each other, and both were attacked by leopards. I know proper leopards and they look down on us, so I can guess how it goes. But... to this extent?" Fabienne asked.

"Preliminary reports. But of... a very suggestive kind," Peter mumbled into his soup. "I know even less than you, I was unaware leopards could be so uncouth to snow leopards. I know what I read in the reports we have to give and to think... just keeping teenagers in love away from one another. Inters. But because they are lions and hyenas... hard to imagine."

"Imagine... imagine if they were, ah, Outsiders. Do you think it would have been even more terrible?" Fabienne asked, in a slightly low tone.

"If what you say is so, it would have a different... quality to it. To hate an Outsider is not always a thought. It can be a reflex, no more than a hiccup or a sneeze. Perhaps... perhaps with some anger, if some expectation is affected, thwarted by an unexpected love... b-but that is not quite so with what you imply. That is settled, central, tied to something deeply cultural, passed along from the generations like how to properly eat soup or how to dress and act and interact in proper, upright society, no matter what. Ah, that is... it is more rigid, more regimented, and often more important. To some..." Peter said, trying his best to retain his professional newsreader tone.

"To some, yes, to some it would be very important. Inter or Outsider, it would matter a very great deal I would think. It would be important enough to do... anything..." Fabienne sighed.

"Families are like that. Everyone is. I think we all understand we would do anything if it truly mattered. But we always act in ways we think are right. That's why, I suppose, the most important thing is not getting so caught in our own heads. Simba Pride thought he was doing right, in his own cultural way. We all must assume all mammals are doing the right thing as they see it. How else could anyone get along? We can only hope they have good mammals around them to provide insight. And from there, well, that's where interaction and life happens," Peter said with a shrug.

Fabienne went silent for a long time, slowly eating to the sounds of general murmuring and the loud yet controlled slurps of Peter enjoying his meal. She had a lot to think about. But mostly her own good advice. For all she gave the beaver a hard time, Bernice was charming and very insightful. She didn't think of herself as such but she was shrewd enough to work in the ZNN building and everyone knew the real power belonged to the managers and day-to-day directors. She was on top of things and never gave bad advice.

"I think too many folk discount advice. I see this constant push to be proudly independent, no matter what. I do see the idea behind it but too much leads to the kind of arrogant folk that drive intoxicated or charge forward with no regard to the feelings of others. Or... maintain a spiteful hate for no reason at all save a long-dead tradition held by the, well, long dead."

"Even with such preliminary news there are a good number of angles to cover. Perhaps they will avail us the time to editorialize. Even if not, I trust the team to give us something of substance to say," Peter said, slurping up the last of his soup and slightly leaning back in his chair. "I suppose we shall see."

Some time later the main studio was being prepared, all the graphics packages were being loaded and the little accessories were being laid out on the desk. Peter was out of makeup and in position, checking the clarity of the teleprompter and giving notes on the speed and size.

Fabienne was in the chair, having her facial spots and rosettes lightly touched up and her tone slightly darkened to not shine overmuch in the glare of the studio lights. The modification ironically made her look more like herself on camera. She was looking over the latest updates while a small male dik-dik worked on her using runners attached to the makeup chair, and while Bernice stood by the base of the chair.

"Get yerself set up. Higher ups want this hammered into the airwaves there, long as ya both can stand it. Think ya can do that?" Bernice asked with a toothy grin.

"I have worked very professionally with Peter very often. This will be no different. Another day. Just another day," Fabienne said with a soft sigh.

"Sure sure, just another day," Bernice said with a grin. "Just remember, my-"

"Nathaniel came up to you in a bar and said your accent was lovely and now you're married, you have three children and it's all very nice. Very nice... I'm not your Nathaniel, perhaps because I'm not so strong or not so sure, but I can't convince myself I'll end up anywhere I like," Fabienne insisted.

Bernice reached up and softly patted her hand. "'Course ya don't know. Ya never know, donchaknow. But jeepers... how can ya even live if ya never try anything at all?"

The words ran through Fabienne's head as the dik-dik pronounced her finished and shooed her off to the main set. She looked mostly down at the desk when she took her seat beside Peter, considering their conversation and what she had just been told. "Are they still doing the taped earlier reports from Michael?" She asked.

"We're going live for the updates. At least it's positive. Small favors," Peter said with a shake of his head.

_How can ya even live if ya never try anything at all?_ "How indeed," Fabienne whispered, under her breath. She missed the countdown, missed the cue. It was only good fortune Peter was prompted first.

"Thank you, Zootopia, for tuning into this broadcast of ZNN Vesper news. I'm Peter Moosebridge, joined by Fabienne Growley. We will continue to deliver updates on the major scandal centered on the powerful figure of Simba Pride, and the orders he gave that resulted in injuries and intimidation. All prior reports, stated as preliminary, have been updated to confirmed. Fabienne?"

There was no real prompt that made her do it. Nothing that triggered her to go off-script But just hearing her being called made her enact Bernice's frequent suggestions. "Peter, I know, know very much I should not, but this hate-filled encounter really has made me think I should at least... Peter, will you have dinner with me tonight? No, not at the staff cafe. A restaurant, a good one."

Silence. Dead, still silence, from every single mammal in the room and in the booth. Airtime hissed along with no content. The first thing to break the stillness was a twitch from Peter, a little shake of his large dewlap. His lips seemed to want to speak but he could only make light puffing noises. With enough time, he finally managed to ask, "Really?"

"Fool that I am but, yes. I've agonized over it for too long to just never try. I have to live, have to make this happen," Fabienne said, with downcast eyes.

"I never imagined... I thought I would have to..." Peter said softly, a deep chuckle rumbling in his barrel chest. "I could never refuse."

"So... I was... I'm not making a fool of myself?" Fabienne asked.

"No... I was making a fool of myself for being so afraid. I should have approached, and sooner than this," Peter said. He noticed the looked of the crew, and the string of question marks on the teleprompter. He cleared his throat and adjusted his stance, back to business. "I would like to thank you, Fabienne, for finally asking. I've been waiting all this time. We should talk later about details."

Fabienne picked up on the switch and looked to the screen, showing off the script as had been prepared. "Of course, but we may have gotten off the track. Our continuing coverage of the disaster in Happytown. We have new information from the ZPD that..."

The broadcast went off without any other bumps, the pair occasionally looking to each other during their on-camera time. When it was over Bernice rushed up to Fabienne, looking apologetic. "Soory, there. But the big bosses wanted ta have ya up fer a little chat. That was a great thing ya did, there, but..."

"Yes, even the right thing has consequences. Well... at least I know now, yes? This will make a charming little story as I wait for unemployment," Fabienne laughed, walking off with Bernice beside her for moral support.

"Perhaps I..." Peter's consideration ended when his pocket vibrated. His phone had been going off intermittently during the broadcast, and checking it revealed what he had been fearing the entire time. Missed calls from his mother. No texts, of course. The grande dame cow was advanced enough to have cellular service but never bothered to learn to text, leaving only the notice she had called. He didn't bother to check the voice mail, hitting his mother's number and waiting through a short span. "Mitera, I understand that-" He began.

" _Petros Alexandros Moosebridge,"_ the tinny voice on the line spoke with a heavy Hellenic accent and was firm as anyone could be. _"I watched your broadcast. Have you no honor?"_

"Mitera, mitera you cannot say things such as-" he attempted to say.

" _You shame the names of Manatis and Moosebridge. How is it that pretty queen had to ask you to go to dinner on live television? A gentlemammal would have invited her to our home for dolmas and a drop of ouzo. The chef could have put in meat. Or souvlaki, we can afford chicken. Do you think your family is too poor to entertain a woman of your father's culture? Her rich speech will not bankrupt us, Petros."_

Peter was, momentarily, thrown into confusion, leaving dead air for the second time that day. "Mitera... I must say... I did not... you raised me..."

" _Properly, yios. As a bull should be raised. Respectful, kind, upright. You learned to play the bouzouki, and the piano. You had manners, slurped the malted soup, kept your head up and your wattle flat. You dressed well, spoke well. But... you never fell in love, glike mu. All this time I wondered what coldness you had in your heart, wondered if the frosty kind of slow affection came too cold from your father. No. You were only afraid. And I never said the right thing, that you should know you had no reason."_

"It was always a thread," Peter said, low and slow. "Hooves and antlers. Ever more hooves and antlers on all sides, all the time. They were not kind to the idea. I never knew it would be acceptable."

" _We had no... no reason to speak out. There was no push. It was something that did not matter. Academic, they say. Until it did matter. It is always different and unknown until it is your family. Then it finally clicks in place that something must be said, and now you have a snow leopard for a daughter-in-law."_

Peter's softening features and slowly spreading smile flipped to a mask of shock, eyes wide and staring. "M-mitera! It's dinner!"

" _Bah! Petros, you silly calf. I told you I watched you on the television. I saw you looking at that Fabienne queen. Dinner... you have some honor, yios. Tell her you would like her to come to the house. I will pay for the overtime for the staff. They will serve ouzo, we will feed her the dolmas stuffed with ground fish, maybe give her kalamarakia, and plenty of it. If you fear she will not think we are grand enough, we can prove her wrong. You can dance! I made sure you learned that too. You can show how long your legs and arms are. I know nothing of these kinds of mammals but how is a moose ever badly shown with his limbs so long and skinny?"_

Peter found himself having to hold back laughter before it was all over, the smile back in full force on his face. "We will, of course, discuss the possibility, mitera. It is, after all, only the first date. There is no call to have an augur come around with her headscarf and crystal ball and proclaim good fortune."

" _Your theia Violeta will be very disappointed. My sister loves to augur when she can. There will be chances. Be well, glike mu. Enjoy your dinner with my new daughter..."_

"Mitera..."

" _I wish good things for you, yios. Always. Be well, my calf."_

"Thank you. So much. Perhaps I... **we**... will see you soon. Be well, mitera."


	4. Bela Lugosi's Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bela Farkas. Skeletal failure of Savanna Prep. Kicked out of his pack. Informant of betrayal, given no loyalty for his loyalty. Intellectual. Savage. He listened, listened well to those who didn't tell him how he could be a success, but who was to blame for being a failure.
> 
> A failure
> 
> (First part of a double-header story about the complications of broken and overly assured mammals)

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Four: Bela Lugosi's Dead**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

Savanna Prep was decently big for what it was, a private school for the higher end mammals who preferred the west-central region of the city-state to the slightly eastern, and slightly smaller, Canyonlands region. The size also related to the fact that it was one of only a very small group of such places, the most notable other being Hyenahurst Academy in said other location, being a traditional rival in sports and academics.

Because it was unfeasible for everyone to live near or commute to the academy, there was limited dormitory space in a building just across from the school. Being that they were teenagers in the city-state it wasn't quite the full boarding school experience. Everyone had roommates, there were monitors and lots of oversight, and barring rather extraordinary circumstances, everyone had to go home for the weekends that matched their stated religious preference or as determined during enrollment by the parents.

Though there was a somewhat large skew toward a conventional approach, legal frameworks required that all classes be more or less uniform, typically meaning the main bulk of learning that required full class participation happened between Baydas and Asterdas, with non-essential but helpful elements done on the non-weekend day, either Moondas, which was typical, or Sundas, which was much less common, except in places that skewed toward a lot of predators or general nocturnal folk.

One of those boarding mammals was Bela Farkas, the forced lone wolf. Gaunt and skeletal, accidentally imposing and socially invisible. He had not only been rejected from the pack that once gladly accepted him, other lone wolves had pushed him aside. Crawling back to the pack had done nothing. It was under new management, bizarre as that was. Mapigano, a leopard, running a pack. A cruel mammal, cold and ungrateful. Bela had told them who betrayed them, who had broken the rule. But Mapigano had broken the rule of loyalty right back, rejecting him, after being humiliated when the pack's revenge was stopped by Fuli from the track team, which got more sports stars involved in protecting Gabu and his walking sweater. That wasn't on Bela. He had done the right thing. Revealed a traitor. He was supposed to reap a reward.

Gabu had not just rejected his logical arguments, the goat-kissing tail-tucker had actually punched him, threatened him. Told him to grow up. He was already far more grown than most alleged adults! He knew the facts. He had read all the most important works on the subject. He was well versed in _The Stalker In The Rye_ , and _The Brothers Volkamazov_. He knew what separated a mammal from a supermammal. That was all he needed to know. Seeing past the lies that adults told themselves to get along in the society they forgot how to run.

He was glad that his parents had signed him up for a Frededas-Moondas weekend schedule, and that his roommate, just by the numbers, had been one of the more common Sundas-Frededas schedule. He had an entire Sundas to himself in the room every week, and could use that to just laze on the laptop and keep in touch with the blogs of other predators who knew the real, bloody, savage truth.

Lacking a credit card he couldn't buy the reading material but they sometimes posted excepts and held small streamed seminars to explain the problems of the world. They were stunning. Enlightening. Clear, cogent explanations of what had happened to his life, how the climate of the society, how the laws that were slanted against the real, pure nature of the mammalian condition put him on the bottom. It was a revelation, something that had helped to soothe his freshmammal loser period. He tried. He tried... and no one appreciated it.

That hurt more than anything else. Gabu blathered about everything, about his bleating can-muncher, about how **he** was wrong, how **he** misinterpreted books, about how he, that weakling, didn't need a pack but needed friends. But being reminded of being a loser, being called a nice mammal. Being reminded of that doe from Iriomote. The chubby face, the squat, round body, the braces shining on her buck teeth, the glasses framing her strangely enticing Harlequin face. No lapine ever looked so beautiful, so enticing. He tried! He was nice. He was super nice, came down to her level, he told her she looked delicious, told her she was luscious and a goddess.

No pack, no one there for him. Gabu seemed like someone he could trust, but he was just flaunting his flat-eyed, bearded bleater. He sounded like he understood. But all he did was throw out objections. Talking about love and feelings, about denying how it really was. He even mentioned Bellwether, proof of the bias leveled against true, blood-passion predators on every level, a way to hold them back.

Prey ruled even when predators held the reigns. Lions and wolves and hyenas and other such true predators stood on the top of the pyramid, mayors and business titans and social heads. They commanded, they controlled. But they always maintained the weak and timid society of grass-munchers that really made everything. Vesper's lot from Meadowlands, his evil daughter, the various bigots and influential mammals that had been dismantled. That was only proof that everyone who protested had been right. But smug prey like the stripe-lover singer crowed about change and progress. Degeneracy. Losing what made mammals mammals. Losing the old ways that were so appealing. Right.

Bela wasn't sure why he let Gabu get into his head so much. Maybe because he was vindicated on some level. Even after directly selling him out to Mapigano, Gabu and his goat hadn't suffered any consequences. And he got no reward for it. He wasn't accepted by either one. It stung to punish betrayal but reap no loyalty and concern back. There were rules in a pack. Betray none, support the strength of unity. He had followed the rules. Maybe being a leopard made him forget how things worked. The only bright spot was Mapigano hated Gabu too. That would feel better but with Gabu having powerful friends all of a sudden, it was a hollow victory indeed.

His other peers were no better. Just like Gabu they didn't interpret the texts they read the same way. Seeing them through the proper lens of the savage soul was the only proper way to look at them. Medvedevsky knew it, and said so, knew the savagery of need and desire. Salisbury knew it, knew that the ennui of growing older surrounded by simpleton fools who didn't realize nature was all there is, and that it was folly to imagine anything else. That and the lessons from Darius Viverrideh on what had happened. What it really meant. He was filled with anger, because there was a lot to be angry about.

Isolated. Contained. Treated like a pathogen. As if he was a disease. Just for being aware of things, for telling the truth about the world. Others thought they knew how it was, from other students to the teachers. The monitors were already looking askance at him, somewhat suspecting he was doing more than just casual browsing. Thank goodness for private browsing. It may have been a joke to that fat stripehead badger, private browsing saved him from any potential problems. It was his only lifeline to a world he could understand and feel comfortable in.

Everything had been a simple matter of going along, until one forum announced there would be a gathering of all the like-minded mammals that were interested in meeting to listen to speeches and be among those that understood things. At last, a chance to finally be with others who had the right idea. It was an opportunity to witness true mastery. It was to be held slightly late, but that was little problem. He was tagged as nocturnal, so his curfew on the night before he was to go home was extended a bit. If it was in the area he could make it with the public transport.

Getting there was all about learning the location, which was very unusually hidden. The organization of these types had always been a bit standoffish when engaged with anyone not already in their ranks, with numerous books on their shelves and attended seminars under their belts. He had lurked and commented for a long time, to an extent, but was far from known.

The only way to get information on the gathering was to prove that he had bought a book from Viverrideh by photographing the receipt. There was a lot of that, no one believing that anyone had really become part of things unless they could present proof. Skeptical loyalty, that was the evidence it was like a pack. Maybe better. They wouldn't renege on requirements like Mapigano did, they would pay off if there was direct evidence.

It was implied that it was supposed to be for adults. It was a strange thing to think, adults who actually held their passion. A rare and elevated breed. But it was just a gathering. He was loyal. He believed. But he simply couldn't give the tokens of loyalty. Being active in the pack was easy to do, he could provide material evidence of being of use to everyone. Here, he was simply stuck.

_You seem like you understand. There are two locations. One to meet, and one to go to._

A private message from an established user.

_Be at the Snarlbucks on Palm and Tenth, outside, Sundas at five, there will be a window of only ten minutes. Ask if Professor V is still teaching. Only accept the answer that he is, but not as much due to the restructuring. Any other answer is a sign to walk away, even hesitation. We will be taking the bus from there to Acacia and Thorn. Don't be a fake._

A sign of confidence. Proof he was an established figure and one someone could recognize as worthy. Perfect. He'd finally meet his ilk.

o o o

Weather control wasn't a real thing, not in the grander sense. Zootopia's advanced climate systems were almost exactly like a giant HVAC system putting on airs, and a series of tubes pumping water around and spraying it where it was needed. The dense pack of buildings in most districts created their own sometimes chaotic climates where there was no necessary alteration.

It was piddling rain that late afternoon, or early evening depending on perspective. Nearly five, Sundas, a day of worship for the scattered few Solaterrans in the city-state and a family day for the vast majority of PUCA folk. For Bela, it was a day to be remembered. He would finally be with his own kind, with others of his intellect, listen to those who knew Darius and had learned of his neo-savagery, a predator's new refuge away from the fake world of herbivorous civility.

He stood under the awning of the Snarlbucks, dressed rather plainly. He wasn't required to be in his uniform when he had free time, and he went with a more normal attire of jeans and a plain white tee, this time covered up with a windbreaker and a blank billed cap that offered at least some protection from the annoying rain. With his long and gangly limbs and his hunched posture he looked far more like a college freshman than what he actually was. His eyes darted around, checking out every predator that passed for a sign of recognition.

"Is Professor V still teaching?" From the side, a rough voice, a shadowy figure that suddenly appeared.

Bela almost hesitated, but he had been warned. His mouth was thankfully a few steps ahead of his more rational mind. "Yes he is, but not as much due to the restructuring."

"Has anyone else showed up?" The looming figure asked. He was dressed in a long coat, with a hat slouching on his head, his long muzzle sticking out and the smell of wet canine telling what he was. "Good to see a ZU student here. We need more like you on that bastion of herbivorism."

"Yes, yes..." Bela smiled inwardly, for once in his life actually appreciating the long, gangly limbs his idiot father cursed him with. They served him well. He tried to keep his head down, ostensibly hiding from the light rain, even if he was already under the awning. He could pass as one of them, someone more grown, if he kept his mouth shut. He only observed others arrive, ask or be asked the question, form a loose knot. Wolves, tigers, bears, even smaller predators like weasels and foxes. All of them there to join in a union of the disadvantaged, to learn why things have gone as they have gone.

The window was stretched slightly longer that ten minutes, seeking stragglers who almost bowed out due to the rain. Almost pathetic, even if Bela also shook off constantly and nearly rued his decision. But no, uncertainty was unbecoming of a predator. He could take it. It wasn't that long of a stretch anyhow. The group of them took up positions at the nearby bus stop, taking the next bus that arrived to take them to the secondary destination.

Down the bus line the city grew darker. It openly felt more oppressive. Perhaps it was just his own cold-pitted stomach. His own weakness. He needed to burn that out of himself to be perfect. Perhaps being among all these proper folk, hearing the words live could make him pure.

The sun had dipped lower in the sky by the time the entire crowd disembarked at the stop nearest to the final destination. Bela noted, with a toothy smile, the few uninvolved prey types that had been on the bus looked at all the others with mistrust, with fear. It made him feel vindicated, and also finally powerful to see that the prey that ruled him truly feared him and his kind. He was important. He was mighty.

The part of the center of the city they had arrived at was hardly comparable to the nice places he was used to. It was no Happytown but it seemed a bit downmarket for a group of intellectuals. He had figured on something at least rented, a hall or a storefront long divorced from commerce. But the area was mixed low residential and commercial, with some storage space in the form of small warehouses. One of those warehouses was the destination.

Someone had set it up in advance to receive the gathering. Chairs, a podium, a banner with Darius' face on it, and also a screen with a projector coming from a laptop manned by a burly tiger with a scowling look. Almost as an afterthought it seemed, a battered old coffee urn had been set up in the back, beside a stack of paper cups. Even with no cream or sugar, the predators all seemed drawn to it. The men, and it seemed to be all men for no discernible reason, barely blew on the black brew that they gulped down in long, heavy swallows to chase off the chill and sharpen the mind.

Bela stalked over, tentatively reaching for a paper cup. He needed to fit in, needed them to know he was one of them. A quick hand interrupted the grab. A weasel practically buried in a ratty coat with kinked whiskers and an oily look glared at him. "Save it for finals, college pup, you don't need this sludge." Even having said that, he poured out a portion and downed a long pull of the burnt-smelling swill.

Bela skulked away to take a seat, picking something near the back, the first thing that presented itself to him. He was fine. Once things started he could sink into the purity of the words, the intelligence, the rightness. It would all be fine. He had done the right thing and would show Gabu that this was correct.

There was little conversation. The meeting had been planned very efficiently and on a rigid schedule. The narrow window of time had indicated that. A video came up on the screen, filled with hissing audio from cheap speakers. It was Darius himself. _"The idea that you all came here, after showing your dedication to neo-savagery with money and time, indicates that this world may be worth saving and be capable of being saved by you. You really are a good group and you need to keep remembering what we believe in. This will be an illustration of what the world should be like. This is the savage world that we know is real, that is right. A world taken away by herbivorous masters and the cringing servants that promote them. Herbivores feared us long ago. We were savage. We ARE savage. It still wells up within us. Herbivores are no longer instinctually primed to obey us even if they know to fear us. But you will see that here. Learn it well. Remember to keep up to date with all my social media."_

With the way technology worked, it was genuinely hard to tell what was live and what was prerecorded. Bela wanted to believe that Darius had been involved enough to show up live and give his encouragement to those that supported him and believed in his ideals. But he was a busy civet. He had to plan out his updates, write more books about taking respect, and figuring out how to cut through the dominant culture to get rights.

The whole meeting started immediately, with the men striding up to the podium to talk about how they had been disadvantaged by society. Bela sunk deeply into himself, to avoid being called up, once more cursing his long limbs for their impracticality. What could he say? Talk about how Gabu was a pack-betrayer and he took the side of a goat? How Gabu had clocked him and laid him out when he didn't even work out or even care about getting powerful? That would give the game away. He didn't know enough about ZU to make up the details needed to set it outside of where it had happened.

The tiger in the back was his savior. He announced that they had a special surprise, that they could see the world they were working toward, that Darius and all the rest of them hoped for. Confused muttering passed through the crowd. That guy was clearly one of the more important ones, who had set up the whole thing. But no one had been told of anything like that.

The smell was the first thing that let everyone know something had changed. Each drag of air grew longer and longer as every predator found the musk of so many males of known species cut with the scent of prey. A rabbit. Nothing smelled like a rabbit. It wasn't as delightful as that squat and bespectacled harlequin doe from Iriomote, but it was a rabbit.

The sound of the outer door brought all the eyes onto the new arrival. A giant. Vlaamse, was the term. Certainly not so big as the men that were gathered there, other than the smaller weasels and foxes. But a giant among rabbits. She was in a tank top and shorts that stretched down more than usual. Her hands were taped up as if she had been at a gym, sparring or similar.

"We never see what we desire. Even during the release of truth when Bellwether was rightfully afraid of us, the news covered everything up. That grass-chewing moose dominated everything, and his prissy snow leopard side-reporter, or the tanuki, never got a chance to shine and show the blood of the savage release," the tiger boomed, earning applause and agreement from everyone. Everyone but Bela. It was true. But it really had no meaning. He was saying things but they meant nothing besides the news was squeamish. And had a policy about that, some legal matter regarding privacy laws.

The next act was almost too swift to follow. Though a bit on the heavy side the tiger still moved fast. He wrapped his arms around the rabbit, dwarfing the giant Vlaamse, who had her own arms in front of her in a kind of practiced defensive posture. There was a sound that almost echoed out, one all the panthers and felines knew and that others sort of felt instinctually. The twist of wet rope, almost a creak of muscle, the activation of the flexor tendons that always signaled a spike in danger. All civility was suspended when the smooth split in the skin parted and the keratin hooks slipped out.

Everything moved in slow motion. Most of the men were silent, though some muttered aside to one another. Bela looked on with wide eyes, his breath barely moving in his throat. Cat claws, dangerous and hurtful. Mapigano had pricked his arm when he got frustrated after being beaten by Fuli. And more, he had had health class, several times, all about the various kinds of wounds that could be inflicted by horns, antlers, fangs, hooves, incisors, and claws. Prey had a surprising number of ways to inflict pain and injury for the weaker class of mammal. Even a clean slice could have dirty claw. Stitches would be a requirement with how long a decent sized pantheran's claws could be, and a tiger was the peak. Weeks of healing, with bruising, assuming there was no infection.

Why did he think about practical nonsense? It was what he wanted to see. To witness savagery he had read about in books. It came naturally. It was natural. He was natural. He was normal.

One more creak and the claws flexed a bit more. The tips met skin. They were not blunted, they were filed. The tiger was a criminal. Even if he had a permit, showing them on purpose in a group setting was a threat. Doing what he did, that was more than a mere statutory matter. The flex dug those tipped hooks into the flesh of the rabbit. And she screamed.

It was said among those who only traded rumors of rabbits that they were a quiet folk. But in danger and injured they made a particular scream, a piercing shriek that stabbed the ear and set instincts aflame. Other savagists thought it would be a representation of purity and the old days. The sound made Bela's blood run cold. That was real pain. Not just the sound of mutual battery, or the sobbing of someone punched a little bit to shake down money. It was primal suffering. He thought about the harlequin doe, that noise emerging from her chubby face, her braces shining as her mouth opened wide.

It made him sick.

He was... sickened? But... it was...

Savage.

His long limbs from his father were a curse and a blessing, but both his parents gave him his nose. A blessing almost all the time. His sense of smell was sharp, a canid's inheritance. The olfactory organs were on point, crisp, and the first few hints of blood on the stale air hit him harder than any pack brawler's punch ever had. It was almost a physical blow. The coppery tang, mixed with salt and pheromones of fear. He had smelled fear from bullying victims. It was acrid and heavy. But this was in even thicker smell, the instinctive fear of potential death that came of bloodshed. Blood... Hadn't he told Gabu the glory of blood? Red-soaked, injury-heavy ancient Lupercalia. All those writings about the savage nature that spoke of blood in so natural a way, that made it feel right. Inert words. Sterile. Clean. Even messy, it was clean. It was an idea of smeared blood, but not a reality that needed to be confronted.

He had heard that police investigators, particularly those with strong senses of smell, needed extensive academy time with blood scent acclimation. That naturally, they would grow sick, or panic, or something. At the time, he had thought they were weak. Degenerate. Inferior. Surely anyone would appreciate something hailed so highly by superior thinkers.

Wave on wave of nausea punched him in the gut. Like any unfair fight, he was being hammered in the face and belly without mercy and with no way to defend himself. He barely had the strength to look up once more. He was just too busy trying to hold himself together. The tiger had dug his claws into the rabbit's arm just a touch. But he had started to pull, dragging the scratches down just a touch. Not much, but opening the wounds, making them longer, really necessitating future stitches.

He had never had any experience. He had to admit it in that moment when the waves of nausea and the acrid, copper stench were beating him up without end, he was just a sheltered pup. His parents had never even insisted on him watching a chicken or a lizard or even a fish be slaughtered. There was surely no comparison, but on some level blood was blood. He had let the idealistic descriptions, the clean and artful descriptions, make him think there was no reality to it. He had let himself be lulled into a comfortable fiction. Just messing around online, trading stories of what it would be like to be savage to someone. Forgetting the time after, the moments and days and weeks after. The consequence. When real flesh and blood came to the picture, there was no more fictionalizing and dismissing. The reality had to stand.

The screaming mixed with the sight from that night, the smiling harlequin reacting to his words, to his forward nature, the talk about this. This savage thing. Her face fell. She had seemed interested. Outsiders subtly knew their own. Gabu had been... right. She had wanted him. It hadn't been a one-sided failure. He had fallen into a cycle of excuses. Had pretended he wasn't what he was. His interest was savage, seeking blood and submission from prey, and not a date, he told himself. All the 'enlightened' folk fled from him as their hollow, sterilized words came to be as blank and empty as the whiteness of the paper they were frozen on. Trapped in time, meaning nothing because they were static, while life was dynamic, and understanding shifted with learning and experience.

Everyone around him, seemingly, was savoring it. No one looked sick, no one was holding themselves together. At worst the rude weasel looked snide or unimpressed. The whole thing came to almost a dark climax with the sudden sheath of the tiger's claws accompanied by a downward pull, creating ever shallower but still rather nasty claw rends on the rabbit's arm.

The tiger held up the claw-marked arm, with the warm, red blood flowing slowly down. The doe's fingers twitched lightly as the gathered men roared and howled and made over vocalizations of savage delight. Bela was frozen. If he opened his mouth he'd vomit all over everyone. But it was clear he wasn't reacting the way they wanted. And the tiger's piercing, sweeping eyes were bound to notice.

"Hey! Stripes!" The weasel suddenly called out, drawing scowling attention. "Yeah, yeah, scary teeth. Whatever. Where's the can? I gotta make."

The tiger huffed and motioned out of the main room. "It's a portable scat-bucket. Should be clean enough."

"I look like I'm sittin' on porcelain on the regular? A plastic spoor-house is a step up," the weasel said, brushing past Bela and intentionally nudging him. "Don't nobody wanna mark in here, and all that cheap sludge goes right through ya."

He was stunned. Surrounded with the stench of fresh blood, the scream of a rabbit echoing in his head. But even so, Bela shot up and nodded in apparent agreement, following the ratty weasel out. The wet air of the evening was heavy, not quite still rain but not quite over. A mist of a sort. Heavy as it was it was like clean mountain air compared to that place, filled with copper and fear. Even wet as it was Bela drew in desperate gulps of it, eyes wide, nostrils drowning him in wet, clean air to purge his lungs and mind of everything.

"Don't boggle, pup, that's a weasel's job," the coat-wrapped weasel grunted. "Ya ain't got enough fuzz ta be here, no matter what kinda limbs yer waving around. Ya ain't been nowhere near ZU less yer mommy an' daddy took ya ta get yer name engraved on one-a their spots in the place. Ya ain't old enough ta be this kinda loser. Call back when ya lost some rinky-dink sports career, lost yer job fer bein' a creep or been run in fer getting' drunk an' pissin' on the sidewalk in front-a Little Rodentia. Nothin' in all-a the world is bad enough ta be in this crowd, nothin'."

"I-I could be..." Bela lamely muttered, too late. He had been swallowing his gorge and getting the nervous and frightened heat out of his body.

"Get yer tail back home, pup. Yer lucky I saw ya and had a reason ta give a scat about ya," the weasel firmly said.

"I am... I... I am as savage as all of them! Like a true intellectual!" Bela insisted.

"These parasite-farms ain't intellectual. Ya think th' rumps in the seats think even half as much as the grifters that lead yer little cults?"

"Darius is not-" Bela started.

"Take it from a gaffle-runner, they ain't much different 'cept they ate a dictionary along with their scat pills so's they can vomit up big words along with that tidal wave-a brown chunks. Don't know how much-a mommy an' daddy's money this one sucked up, but ya ain't seein' it again. Now scoot," the weasel said, pointing away from the warehouse.

There were no more objections to raise, no half-hearted invective to toss back at the weasel. His objections had been perfunctory, the last gasp of a dying ego, the natural inclination to assert rightness even as reality was making that ego pay. "Why? Why do it?"

"Look, pup, I only look the part, still know how ya move with these losers. I'm doin' a favor fer ma. Th' writin' bug bit hard, an' she sure as scat weren't gettin' first hand stuff on these types. Got me some good stuff but I need ta get back in. I ain't heartless, ya needed ta get out. Don't ruin yer life yet. Make yer mistakes, sure, but live a life before ya throw it out like these garbage mammals." With a flick of his coat collar he turned to return to the warehouse, saying, "Just... some time soon, and I ain't sure when, the Savannah Tribune's gonna have a piece somewhere in th' city matters page. Just watch fer McGnaw. Now get."

With nothing else holding him there, and the weasel's rough words ringing in his ears, he did as he was told.

Bela ran.

o o o

He had made it back to the dormitory, and only a little bit late. His panic and confusion had made him make several mistakes with regard to the buses. Though they were still efficient enough to eventually get him where he needed to be nearly on time. He had counted on extra time to enjoy intellectual camaraderie. Which never happened.

He had gotten home in one piece... theoretically. His hopes and assumptions, the ideas he carried, his surety about what it meant to be a savage had been beaten, battered, crushed by the stink of blood and the screams of someone in pain. He had left a piece of himself there. And he wasn't sure about what was left. What did it all mean?

He had never been all that gregarious before, the stint in the pack being his most stable relationship, lost in the melding of the structure. He was more withdrawn than before, no longer picking intellectual fights in class or cornering folks to talk about how savagery was the natural state of being. He had seen it. If that was nature... Gabu had been right again. Nature was overrated compared to his dry room, with abundant food and mass transit to take him to a movie theater while society functioned to make sure that stayed available from day to day.

He had been more inclined to check the newspaper, specifically the local and city matters sections. In one of the op-ed spaced he came across the title, _Savagery, a position for the saddest_. The byline read Muffet McGnaw. The opening line dedicated the piece to the writer's son-in-law, who had risked life and limb to get important first-hand information. The weasel! He had been spying, just as he said. His mother had the writing bug. Mother-in-law.

" _In the small, hidden corners of our society, predators are often firmly placed, mostly against their will. We know of those who have risen up, their names are at least passingly familiar. Hu Lin. Nicholas Wilde-Hopps. Mayor Eliot Wulfberg. They did not start at their heights, but they reached them. Not every mammal can, and most mammals understand perseverance and striving. Some can't accept that things are not served on a platter to them. They idolize and fetishize some long-ago time in a fairy tale conception of the past. They think life was better when they were promised less, because one strong figure could brutally bully their way to the imitation of respect, and leave the bodies of those buying the myth in their wake. Casualties. This is the truth that savagery ignores._

" _Savagery, a pipe-dream, a poppy-fugue from old writers, curmudgeonly mismammalists dissatisfied with not having enough power for their tastes or bored and dissatisfied with plenty of food and a roof over their heads. The idea that the long-ago ways of nature red in tooth and claw were the only ways to live. When fearing predators was not a problem to be solved and conquered but the way of the world, a world that made sense and gave power to the intimidating. A solution to a problem no one has. I will not wait to make a very pointed statement. After I relate what my dear, daring son-in-law saw among these savages there will be room only for nausea and indignation._

" _In the plainest of all possible terms, it is a lie peddled by grifters of such a low character that those who know of the finest distinctions of such things recognize them as imposters even among the criminally inclined. Because what they sell is not knock-off junk, imitation legitimate goods or priced-down seconds and factory defect items. Nor even real goods of questionable quality and production method. Simply and fully, they sell lies. Nothing at all but lies. They promise answers to questions they made up and pretended match with experiences others have. But in the end, they are selling wishes and desperate grasping that forever eludes the buyer. Savagery is a life that chases a satiation that can never be reached and can never end, and will never give peace or satisfaction._

" _They are sold the lie that their salvation from lowliness or boredom will come form a minute atop a pile of bodies, little realizing that the peddlers of garbage that took their money and their worship forgot to mention that every other savage is as unduly demanding, feeling as entitled to the sole and exclusive top spot and the possession of all the power. A minute atop the pile of bodies they built, weak and arrogant, before the next savage stabs them in the back to stand for their minute, and the cycle continues._

" _When you understand the implications, it becomes clear that society has some blame. That fear of predators that they cherish and salivate over has been retooled from a moral failing on the part of prey. We live together, and could never do so if savagery was actually real, a real feature of the deep-down predator nature. We would have slaughtered the few left that had not been slaughtered by their own kind in desperate bids for excessive, undeserved power, out of a very rational sense of literal self-preservation._

" _But we don't have that. We have sad, confused, desperate, broken mammals in many cases. Beaten down by a life they did not choose with social realities we could control if we wanted. My son-in-law is a predator. I feared him. Not for the things I knew of him. That made me wary and disbelieving. I feared him because I had been raised to. But he managed to survive against all odds and never fell to this notion. No matter the things he did, he never blamed prey for more than we were guilty of. He was a sad, ashamed mammal, trying to live._

" _Some put on intellectual airs, quote musty old tomes written by arrogant fools that never knew what savagery meant, or if they did showed off only their own malevolence and inimitable disdain for others. No experience, to too much experience. Dehydrating or drowning. Both are deadly. But they are rare. What happens is primarily the first. Sad mammals who cannot bear it any more. Sadness, frustration and hopelessness consumes them. If fear of them and the alleged savagery within is all that remains, they will embrace it, it is what they can claim. Re-brand the fear as instinctual respect. Then be sold a bill of goods by these creatures explaining in minute detail how they should be treated, and how things should be. Elaborate fantasies of revenge, of kingliness, of slavery of others and total control. All because they are powerless and sad._

" _The abstract has prepared for the specific. Allow me to elaborate on the specifics that my son-in-law witnessed in a meeting one of these cultic leaders arranged not that long ago..."_

The rest of the piece was a description of the event, giving every horrifying detail he had seen, and things he missed. The weasel must have had an eidetic memory or a good and well-concealed recording device to make it so horribly exact and give that to a second mammal. It was suitably lurid, and suitably shameful. It also washed over Bela's eyes. He didn't need to be told to be ashamed. He had been slapped by the opening.

Boredom or sadness. In the most intellectual moments he was that idle, ennui-infected disaffected Holden Maulfield type that Gabu accused him of being. He wanted so badly to feel something. And they all talked about the blood. How wonderful it was to sink into the savage state. To be a savage. To run free with no consequence. But freedom was not a license for chaos, he remembered he had heard in a cartoon once. There was always a bill to pay. Anyone who didn't care... that was, appropriately, the way of a savage, who left a mess society had to clean up. It was why societies were inclined to lock them away, those savages that could never learn.

Sadness... after that night, the pain he felt fed his dive into believing that it was in the nature of mammals to be savage. His poor skills with others made him angry at himself. Then angry at her. When the pack went out to cause trouble and they met those girls from Iriomote on their own turf. Her two-tone face with the glasses and braces reflecting the streetlamps, so plump and round, like a dumpling. She was beautiful. Perfect. And he had opened his muzzle and talked about his pet ideology. When savagery was just his study. When he said prey should be fearful, tingle with fear and give up their blood.

Outsiders knew their own. He had chased her off. He exchanged the pain of being an outsider for the disdain of them. But nothing would ever take the desire away. Honesty would make it better. But it would be a hard road indeed.

"Ennui or sadness? Ennui can go curl up and die. Sadness... no satiation, no solution. I listened to a cult leader sell me the way of failure. He never told me how I could win. I was just mockingly told who made me lose. But I could have told myself. I only needed a mirror..."


	5. But... I AM Pagliacci

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ame Ichoji, Smiling Rain, is a queen bee of Iriomote High School. Perpetual star in the drama department, straight A student, devoted shrine-goer, she's the whole package. The Magpie Harlequin bun cuts quite the figure. If you're ever in trouble, she has all the answers. She can help everyone. Anyone.
> 
> Anyone...
> 
> (Companion piece to "Bela Lugosi's Dead")

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Five: But... I AM Pagliacci**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

Iriomote High School was considered the highest upper-tier of a school that was not private. The richness of Vine Country made the district very strong, and those locals that couldn't send their children to the local all-grade private school or one of the other private preparatory academies in the city-state could feel secure sending them to the public option, knowing it was good enough to have a notably positive reputation.

Like the area in which it was located, the school was a healthy mixture of many different cultures that came from a similar place in the old country. Everyone grasped the common language and filled the school with their own unique mix of languages, creating, sometimes, linguistic cliques.

Zootopia promised that anyone could be anything. A bunny and a fox were cops. A weasel was a rich househusband. A major industrialist had been reduced to a figurehead ex-con by his own teen son. It wasn't impossible, and was more than just possible. Just as a kind of nerdy queen like Tiifu could be a popular cheerleader at Savanna Preparatory Academy, at Iriomote one of the queen bees of the Nihongo set was quite the unusual one. Ame Ichoji, bunny. Rabbits were far from common in the city, save for clusters representing other nations and some scattered Bunnyburrow folks.

She was also not exactly conventional. She was what was called Sanctuarial, a very religious doe, though she was not Peaceground, she was a shrine-frequenting Shinto doe. She showed the mixed devotion of most shrine types by keeping a long, one-hundred-and-eight bead ojuzu wrapped around her right arm during school hours. She was also reasonably short, even for a rabbit, because her body was squat and plump. She had a very teardrop shape that made her ample and healthy. Braces shone on her teeth, even though most of her clique opted for cosmetic snaggleteth. Her glasses were large and the prescription somewhat heavy, her chosen style for the frames being round. Most uniquely of all, and the source of some of her position, was her color. She was a _perfect_ magpie Harelquin. Her body was zoned precisely, making her almost a living chessboard. One black ear, one white ear, half black and half white face, a black arm and a white arm, and black leg and a white leg, each area alternating. She cut an impressive figure for a braced, bespectacled, buck-toothed straight-A student. She moved easily through the tightly packed halls of the school, mostly with a knot of other girls following her.

As a smaller school directly in an urban area they lacked a sports program, so there were no cheerleaders to form the upper crust of society. They had a good theater program, however, and with her brash confidence and unique look, Ame perfectly fit as the star attraction. A good memory meant smooth performances, and had since her first year there. Though not a traditional fit, she often had starstruck freshmammals asking for autographs, which she was only too happy to give.

Everything always appeared to be going her way. She was constantly busy, between theater, homework and hanging out with friends. Eternally around her were two of her closest, fellow theater members, ironically not in her language clique. Kirana was an especially wooly Sumatran dwarf rhino, and Sumbadra was a rather burly but exceptionally femininity-inclined Sumatran tiger. If she ever went out without the whole of the drama department, they were the ones. Their own Sanctuarial natures made them a good fit, though they hewed closer to the proper definition, being Peaceground followers.

"We need to prepare for everything going on at the school carnival," Ame said as she marched her way through the school halls. She and her gang of two were done up in the school uniform, pleated white skirts with blue trim, a soft white button-up top with some vertical pleats near the buttons, and a small sailor-type half-tabard at the back. "The whole theater department is counting on us to make the bake sale part successful."

"The whole department is pitching in," Sumbadra noted in her usual tiny, but rumbling, throaty voice. "But it's a good thing you're leading this."

"Mama says she can make a big pile of that klepon we all like. Think we can sit it next to the daifuku? It's almost like it, with coconut on it," Kirana asked, in her husky tone, turning her head to look past her filed-down horns and the mop of wooly fur that hung over her eyes.

"Of course! And they'll go fast! Love she uses coconut milk. And I arranged to sell ichigo daifuku, and it's not even summer. I may not have made the mochi but I have plenty to wrap around fresh strawberries. I hear that predators grew them," Ame said happily.

"Predators... grew them?" Sumbadra asked, incredulous.

"I asked the fruit shop doe, and she said they get them from that place out there where bunnies usually come from. But there's more than bunny farms. One whole big area is just for predators and they're all farmers. One of the things they grow is strawberries," Ame explained.

"How strange," Sumbadra mumbled, looking down at her enormous mitts and flexing the thick digits.

Ame and Kirana both softly patted their taller friend on the back. "You don't need to farm things," Ame cheerfully said. "You're very good with your acting and... oh! You kind of do that. You have that little window garden."

"We all use your herbs for cooking," Kirana added with a flat-toothed smile.

Sumbadra smiled and suddenly grabbed them both up in a huge, tight hug. "Thank you!"

"Ahaha! Y-you're welcome!" Ame gasped out. She shook herself off and tapped her chin when she was released. "That reminds me, we really need you there early. You can help set up the booth and handle the really tall parts. I have... issues. Maybe give some help to the others. The band herd is so helpless."

"Well, at least being this big is good for that. I'm so happy to help," Sumbadra said with a laugh.

When the day ended the friends headed out for a bit of snacking at their favorite nearby cafe, Neko No Seimei. It had a casual air about it and they served great tea and noodle bowls. There was ample outdoor seating, allowing for a breezy environment to relax and discuss the day.

Sumbadra and Kirana were splitting a relatively large pot of Sulaimani chai while Ame sipped on a tall glass of fizzy lemonade. In the center of the table a bowl of noodles steamed, generously packed with vegetables, fishcakes and shrimp. They all picked out the treats, Ame with chopsticks and the other two with long forks.

"I feel like we should eat somewhere else now and then. It seems like we're always here," Kirana said, munching on a big piece of sliced lotus.

"We eat at each others houses a lot," Ame said, slurping up a noodle. "Besides, it's such a nice place and it's by the shrine and the school."

"We really are Sanctuarial. I always need to know where the Sanctuary is," Sumbadra softly said with a smile. She noticed something at another table and lightly pointed. "O-oh, look. Um. _Outsiders_."

"You can say Outsiders out loud. We know you're not against them, and it's not an accusation anymore," Kirana said with a presumptive roll of her eyes. She adjusted her head and moved her puff out of the way to get a better look. "They're out on a date, and went a long way. Uniforms, nice ones."

Ame looked over with a smile which faltered just a little as she caught sight of what Sumbadra had seen. The first thing she noted was the wolf of the pair. Eerily familiar, one of the faces from _**that**_ encounter. Then the uniforms. The same look. Color, style, everything. The wolf and goat came from that school. She immediately looked around in a panic, half expecting to see the others, especially... but there was nothing.

"Hey, Ame, what's wrong?" Kirana asked, with a head-tilt of concern.

Ame froze for a second, realizing she was looking odd, before loosening her shoulders and sitting casually back in her chair. "Wrong? Ha! What makes you think somethings wrong?"

"You looked at the... the wolf and goat and started looking around. Do you know them?" Sumbadra asked.

Ame sighed a little bit, sipping her lemonade slowly. "I know the uniforms. Savanna Preparatory Academy. I've met... some mammals from there, they come around here now and then. I wasn't with you, so you didn't see them. It was a wolf pack. In the old country they get called yankii, they're delinquents. But... he... doesn't look like that kind of delinquent now."

"Delinquents... no, he looks like one of those guys on the teen shows, the one that sets up pupsitting and a fancy date at the same time," Sumbadra said with an airy laugh and huge smile.

"The pupsitting must be going well, the date sure is," Kirana snorted, wolf and goat leaning in to softly kiss. "Ugh... why can't I ever find a nice girl?"

"Your standards are, um, intimidating?" Sumbadra noted with a hesitant tremor. "It seems like she has to be a rhino who runs her own business and is an artist, model and rich daredevil."

"I can like what I like," Kirana snorted, horns in the air. "I'll stop fooling myself eventually. I'll accept any pachyderm sooner or later. Maybe an elephant. That way if she has a brother we can double-date."

"D-don't say things like that!" Sumbadra huffed with wide-eyed stare. "I told you, I only think that Erich Loxodon is kind of handsome. Th-that doesn't mean anything. T-tell her, Ame."

Ame, who had been lost in thought, snapped out of it and shook her head. "Much as I want to keep this going, Ki's right. We all know what you are, and where the number goes. I think we should just be honest with ourselves. You girls know where mine goes, and that's what we need."

"Well, you goggling at that wolf on a date at least makes sense," Kirana noted. "We just need to find someone locked in a library. You'll get what you want."

"Ha-ha, what I want..." Ame had her best and brightest smile. A skinny stringbean. Long and stretched like a witch enchanted a taffy puller. Gaunt and skeletal, so thin, so lithe he could slip under doorframes and so tall his eartips touched the sky. Then he opened his long muzzle and it all went wrong. How could anyone try so hard to fail so blatantly? To crash and burn with such fury it was almost a talent? All the poetry of someone their age trying to be poetic mixed with all the misunderstanding of someone their age that just sniffed a fictionalized account of the ancient days and were sure they got it.

As was her way, Ame left her friends after a time, heading for home but making a stop at the shrine first. She wasn't known as a Sanctuarial doe for nothing. After making her ritual ablutions she stopped by at the small tent that had been set up and waited next to a sign that said **The Miko is OUT. Please be patient. Thank you**. A little while later Kaho Mujina, the plain tanuki rushed up, slightly huffing, dressed in her miko attire and carrying her twig broom. "Sumimasen, minna-" She halted her apology when she pushed her glasses up and saw it was just Ame in line. "Oh! Ichoji-chan. I should have been prepared to see you. Let me guess, you need more charms and incense?"

Ame bowed deeply and let her ears droop. "You know things very well, senpai. Yes, I require those."

"We're not at school, you can call me something else. I get so caught up in ritual... Ame, you can call me Kaho. I only call my boyfriend Nu-kun because he smiles so big and bright I think his mouth will fall off," Kaho softly chided, a grin showing off her snaggletooth veneers.

A shade of darkness crossed Ame's features, but it was gone by the time she stiffly rose and a smile had replaced it. "How very nice to hear, senpai. Yes. May I buy something now?"

The smile... she was so good at it. She was surprisingly powerful for someone of her grade, and was known as the Smiling Rain for a reason. She moved with an easy grace, physically and socially, navigating the halls and social situations with all the agility attributed to rabbits. But Kaho had been trained by her mother to see deeper, to look at the real situation of visitors. She could tell fortunes best if she saw past the lie, to unguarded moments when the real mammal was revealed. "Yes... yes... come in and select your purchases." She lead the rabbit into the tent, which had many metal racks hung with amulets, charms, ofuda tags, and bundles of incense in paper sleeves noting the scent and best use. "Would you... care for fortunetelling, Ame?"

Ame had been languidly running her fingers along the small bags containing charms, over the lovely glass magatama, and looking over the incense sleeves. The question made her stiffen, and she somewhat haphazardly grabbed a few of the charms and two packets of incense. "With proper respect to your status, senpai, I don't require your majutsu. I only need... need to light some incense." She rather speedily slapped down a familiar amount of money and retreated from the tent, all smiles.

Kaho watched her go, off to the sand pots set up for the burning of incense and the offering of prayers. "Another enmutsubi charm. You think you can hide your purchase among others. Who has you so confused? Witchcraft, is it? You know I will see through you. Well... I hope this works out..."

As Kaho softly scratched the twig broom across the stone floor before the tent, Ame knelt down by the pots of and jabbed several of the incense sticks into the sand. She brought out a lighter and flicked it on, lighting them all and slowly unwrapping the ojuzu from around her arm. She held the omamori charm tightly, not certain if she wanted protection from love, or protection from the hurt of love that wasn't done night.

After a moment of hesitation she rammed in all of her purchased incense and lit them, taking the first bead in her fingers, bowing her head and counting off each bead as she whispered, "Ookami, ookami, ookami, ookami..."

o o o

"But tell me, why would you walk with me like this?" Ame asked, standing on the stage with a script in her hand, motioning outward to the area where the audience would be. A spotlight shone on her, and a lesser one shone down on a somewhat plain-seeming wolf wearing a very obvious rabbit mask. "You must have come far; I have never seen you before."

"Svetlana, you ask too many questions. Why question a... good... companion as you stalk the... woods?" The wolf looked at his script several times, trying to minimize the delay as much as he could. "I'm sorry, I can do that better. Can I have another go?"

"At least you recognize it," Ame said with a cheerful chirp, just a small dash of acerbic tone coming up at the end. "From the top or just that last exchange?"

"The last exchange, I have it," the wolf said. After a calming breath and a look at the script he tried again. "Svetlana, you ask too many questions. Why question a good companion as you stalk the woods? I see how you look at me, with passion and deep interest. You see how I can be a goon to yo-"

"Boon!" Ame snapped, interrupting the wolf. "I know the word is strange but it is what the script says! Boon to you! Goon to you means you'd be a stupid henchmammal. That might be appropriate!"

"Ame!" Kirana called out, running in from stage left. "T-take five!" The rhino led her friend aside, looking around at the confusion on the faces of the rest of cast. "Ame... what's going on? You get... professional when we're running up for a show, but... yelling comes last and the day before the show to let it all out. And we all do it together."

Ame sucked in a breath and turned her hundred-watt smile on her friend. "I want this production to go well. We can't have any errors in this. It's a wonderful story and deserves all our focus."

"Look, I get it. It's the first time we ever had the freedom to do something with an Outsider overtone, and it has a rabbit and a wolf. But you can't just... do that," Kirana whispered, rather more harshly than she intended.

"I get it, I get it. But like you said, this is a special thing. We have to do it right. It shows respect to everyone who's an outsider to handle the material right," Ame insisted. "It's just as much for Su as for me, and... you know, the others in school like senpai at the shrine."

"You're not wrong but that can't be all," Kirana said. "You're not usually this brittle. You're better than yelling."

"I'm fine. You know I'm always fine," Ame said, lightly patting her friend on the arm. "You know me."

Kirana held on to her skepticism for a moment longer before shrugging and making a motion as she turned to the rest of the cast. "Let's try again, Ame's just a little tired right now..."

Ame hadn't asked her friend to lie for her. Or make something up, rather. She wasn't the type to demand such things. But she couldn't shake off the feeling of gnawing strain. Kirana had been right, she was brittle, brittle as cheap glass. Her mind was racing more than usual. It wasn't all about the upcoming tests or the new production, or even the coming school carnival. It was all about the wolf. That gangly wolf. Long, thin, with his slim muzzle smiling bright, fangs almost glowing in the streetlights. Then he spoke. He spoke...

She was better than that! Just because he was handsome! He had probably moved on to the next rabbit that crossed his path. He was a savage; he said so. He licked his fascinating teeth and talked about thrumming blood with all the poetic capability of any B-average nobody in literature class, with more borrowed words. Popular music and the old writers who cared about savagery. Ht was just echoing them, howling out what he heard. So it wasn't his fault. He just tried so hard. So hard. Too hard.

She wasn't making excuses for him. She had no use for him. She was... charitable. He had just picked a bad opening line. And bad references. And to quote that loser Salisbury. And Medvedevsky. And focus too much on blood. Pulsing passion, yes. Blood, no. In the back of her mind she had to consider if she would even consider reconsidering, say, some muscular wolf, or a more conventionally sized wolf. Or a nerdy wolf like her friends honestly assumed she wanted. She was really not that kind of doe. She was better than that.

Ame quickly whipped around and pointed at a mongoose wearing the skirt version of the school uniform. "Mbembe-kun!"

The mentioned mongoose pulled a curtsey and bowed his head a bit, "Yes, senpai?"

"Bring out the prop weapons and adjust the backdrop. Let's practice the duel between Svetlana and the evil General Yomogi. Su-chan! Come on up!"

The large tiger hesitantly made her way onto the sage, dressed in her uniform but also a showy cape and another rabbit mask. "A-ame... I like acting but I prefer being the sidekick. I'm not, not good at being a villain."

"Oh Su, I know... but we're very short on rabbits in the drama department, and you're one of our best actresses. You're also very big. What, would you want us to bring in some Vlaamse from another school, make us look bad?" Ame asked with a shake of her head.

"Oh! N-no! Of course not. I'm proud of this school, we have to do our best," she said. She happily accepted her prop sword from Mbembe-kun and got into a very arrogant, confident stance.

"You do have a way with everyone," Kirana said with a grin. "You have all the answers and can help anyone."

"That's what I do," Ame said with an easy grin, taking her own sword and getting into a serious posture. "All the answers and help for all." As she stalked toward Sumbadra she had that thought at the back of her mind. All the answers but the ones that mattered.

She kept her head in the rehearsal, using her muscle memory for the simple duel that helped her handle Sumbadra's accidentally firm and even harsh strokes of the prop sword which really messed them both up. Poor Kiwano. He and his whole stage crew had to deal with repairing the props more than usual because the tigress could be accidentally quite rough with them.

Another day of school, uneventful, dull. Some answers came easily. The interpretation of poetry. Main themes of some novel or another. The history of the city-state and important dates. Keeping up appearances was easy with enough practice and the rote nature of some things that needed to be kept up. It, fortunately or unfortunately, left a lot of computation space in her head to consider the question of a do-over.

It was stupid. Mammals didn't deserve second chances if they did something bad enough. There were limits. Absolutely there were limits. Everyone agreed with that. She knew that Peaceground folks enshrined the idea. Offer goodness out of mercy. If it is rebuffed or greedily taken advantage of it would shame the giver to keep being used. No one is obligated to be so cruelly used.

Mammals could change, yes. That was far from impossible. Even youkai could become kami if enshrined and respected. But first impressions counted for a lot. He had been another yankii, some Savanna Prep delinquent that spoke too bluntly about shocking and improper things. That was hard to forget. But that other wolf. He had been there, he had been the same kind of delinquent. And yet, there he was on the most peaceful date at Neko no Seimei, casually being an open and proud Outsider with a very sweet, small, mild goat from the same school. He no longer looked the part and his date seemed the type to never be involved with a delinquent.

Change. There had been many, many changes around the city-state. Constantly, in small ways, with big, painful leaps now and again. From the acceptance of Outsiders to bunnies and foxes as police. It was within the scope of things to have a good alteration. It was most important to understand it. But sometimes that was not rising to the level of an ideal. She believed very much in certainty, in the surety of impressions. Her instincts had served her well, instincts for how to select good roles and which other actors to promote and suggest, instincts about folks, how to get close to and how to relate to them. It had worked out so very well so far.

She was so confused about it all. There were serious social matters to consider. As far as she was concerned it was a social faux pas to think of a mammal differently because they were handsome. A special pleading, a weighting that was unequal. Especially for a doe. It would be wrong for a buck to weight a doe's chance at a second chance because she looked nice, had snaggled teeth like senpai instead of straightened teeth like her own. Prejudice like that wasn't right. Mammals should be fair. But then again... she was also allowed to have a preference for who she wanted to be with. Maybe...

Everyone had a preference. Everyone wanted what they wanted. And they did not always match. Senpai's boyfriend was so cool. Tall and lean like she liked, but a lion; not her number. With his oiled mane and banchou coat, he could look like a yankii and seem stylish. According to most that was not what senpai was supposed to 'get'. A tanuki face got another tanuki face. But she saw him at the shrine, the two of them with matching paulowina leaves on their heads, short senpai with her tall, tall lion. But that was a miracle. The kami of the shrine had plucked a shishi statue from the ground and given it life. No one was ever that lucky.

She could soothe one tiny, tiny fire in her mind with her surety that he would never think of her again. Someone that tall and thin, that well-constructed, would pull in other wolves, tall wolves with fluffy, solid coats. Very, very few wolves would want a walking chessboard who was so tiny and rounded and heavy toward the bottom. Or... no. Outsiders knew their own. She and Sumbadra knew instinctively what they were, and Kirana was fine with it, her own needle moving a little but not a lot. He wasn't casting a wide net to be shocking. He was an Outsider and his number went to her. He had tried too hard, come on too strong. He was creepy. Because he was desperate. Desperate?

No.

She wasn't worth being desperate over. Her life went one way, from Iriomote to ZU to either the major live theater in Gnu York or out of the city-state to Hollyvine and externally produced motion pictures. Her talent would see her along, talent and skills. She wasn't apt to get caught up in messy matters of romance. She didn't have the... anything for it. She wasn't that lucky. No, not as lucky as senpai. No one was as lucky as that broom-scratching tanuki.

She had gone so far on auto-pilot that she left the late rehearsal and came to herself at the shrine once again. Incense burned around her, another enmutsubi charm against her chest and her ojuzu out, the beads flying through her fingers as she chanted, "Ookami, ookami, ookami..."

As she finished the one-hundred-and-eighth bead and stopped for a rest a soft cough made her look to the side to see Kaho standing over her. "The shrine is sanctuary for the kami within. We bid you welcome, but we can't protect you."

Her smile was a reflex. Smiling Rain. Just ask Smiling Rain. She can take away trouble. "Senpai..."

"You don't need to hide in mantras about a wolf, don't need to burn incense and get charms to protect yourself. You need to seek assistance," Kaho said, a bit sternly.

The smile stayed up, but that one little statement, running parallel to her own thought, slipped between her armor, and the smiled cracked upward too high. She moved her glasses just a bit, catching the light, washing out the lenses almost as a way to hide herself in a most desperate manner. "You know... what they say... at Iriomote. Is your life going badly? Are your grades slipping? Need reassurance from someone popular? Need any help at all? Do you know?"

Kaho blinked slowly in dawning realization. "Just see Smiling Rain. She has all the answers. She can help you."

"Senpai..." Ame said, long, slow, glasses still washed out, smile still broken. "I am Smiling Rain..."

The wind blew languidly along the shrine grounds, wafting the sweet smoke aside as Kaho looked down on Ame's broken smile. She unhesitatingly knelt down with her, eyes cast down. "Even the kami need our adoration. No one ever has done anything alone. Why has it come to this? Please, Ame... you're too devoted to hurt that way."

"Ookami..." Ame replied, low and pained. "I don't understand. No one deserves a second chance to fix a first impression. No matter long long their limbs and muzzle are. Tall as the sky, thin as a rail. Smooth voice saying stupid things, shocking things. His eyes trying not to be wide. Hungry like the savage he said he was. Repeating stupid things by stupid, dead mammals. Saying anything. Everything. Desperate. Desperate for... No!" Her cry disturbed some sparrows and set them fluttering wildly away. "You were lucky, blessed, repaid for being miko here with a shishi given life. That doesn't really happen..."

More silence, broken by the distant, muted mutter of the city, cars and voices seeming a million miles away. "Nu-kun is special. But he's as flesh and blood as you and me. He was just a poor lion, hurt by accident, nearly killed if the news was right. He met me here by chance, he was so shy I thought he would just run away. He almost did. That day, my first day. Doki-doki. That's all I felt. More when I saw him. He wanted to run away, had no idea what he was doing. He offered me some insect skewers. I led him in to pray. I couldn't let him leave."

No idea what he was doing. Looked at her tanuki face and wanted to run away. Not because it was so plain, so nothing. Because he acted the second way to respond to that. The deep feeling of fear. Fight or flight. Her Nu-kun chose flight, and she stopped him. That wolf tried to fight through it... badly. "Senpai... I wouldn't give a second chance to just anyone. I should never give a second chance to anyone."

"Why not?"

The question made sense. But the answer was slow to come. "He came on strong. Acted like a creep, because his eye was hungry... and afraid. He needed me. Wanted me. In that moment he had to say anything. If I wouldn't give another roll of the dice to a muscular wolf, or a nerdy wolf, why a long wolf?"

"Because you really do like that. And it's fine to like things. Thick, luxurious manes and long legs, long arms that can wrap around a little daifuku body. Never ever real. Until he was real. If you never had any interest at all, yes. They never really got a first chance. They forced a failed first chance on you. You don't owe them pity and agonizing over saying you don't like them. Someone you do like who seems very odd... I have no answers. But Ame... you should talk to your friends about this. They want to help you. I see you with them, always so tightly put together. They can help."

"We're all stupid teens," Ame muttered, hanging her head low. "I'll never see him again. He moved on to a new rabbit. He has to have. He's from Savanna Central, and wouldn't come here much. This isn't me constructing arguments about right and wrong. I just want him to try again, but not be a yankii, not be a savage. Or be the same so I can finally really say no, or tell him why I'm saying no. Give him something to reflect on."

Kaho slowly stood up and nodded. "Your friends are there for you. You can't always be the one with all the answers. When you have questions you have to turn to someone."

As the tanuki walked slowly away Ame was left alone with her thoughts. She thought devotion could protect her from the rush of uncertainty. Her own doki-doki moment. She knew what she liked. But refused to let herself like it, refused to let herself see he hadn't just been a thoughtless savage. He had only grasped at straws, said anything, everything. Like senpai, he was afraid of her taking flight, but chose the wrong words. That made it happen. Outsiders knew their own. His needful eyes had met hers even through the glare of lights in her glasses. He was not looking for a glamor rabbit, or a Vlaamse, or a childlike form. As much as she wanted limbs to the horizon and head in the heavens, he must have wanted her half-and-half face, the chessboard body and teardrop figure.

She slowly rose and walked off the shrine grounds. She had to go chat with her friends. She couldn't solve her own problems. See Smiling Rain. And if Smiling Rain had problems, that's something for everyone else to help with.

o o o

"This is what I like to see, brisk business," Ame said as she slipped the couple of bucks she had just received into the metal till before her and closed it firmly, watching the happy elk walk off with a big cupcake. It was the night of the Iriomote school carnival, a way to ease up on the budget, have fun, and get the community really involved with the school, which was an easy sell as it was very much a point of pride. "My family might not have come from the part of the old country senpai's did, but I still love to see a till fill up."

"Kiwano should be happy. Once all the money is shared out his prop, costume, and scenery budget will be quite comfortable. We can have plenty of sturdy prop swords and really nice costumes," Kirana said, taking money for a set of three klepon wrapped in wax paper. "He's a walking cliché for what hyena folk are like and how gay males act. It works out well for us."

"He's one of the girls," Sumbadra said with a huge smile. She looked at other members of the theater department attracting the attention of members of the public. They waved pompoms and called out. Front and center was the mongoose Kiwano Mbembe, wearing a girl's uniform variant that had been done up with sequins, pompoms had been attached around his wrists and ankles, calling out into a small megaphone marked with the school crest. "He loves the department quite a lot more than most, and I'd never be able to do all of that."

"We should hang out more. Nobody steps on anybody else, unless one of you hovers around viverridae and never told the class," Kirana teased. "So far as I know, he's a zero; that makes us a set."

"I always thought we needed a zero in the group," Ame laughed. She locked the till and was about to settle back when a shadow fell across her face, a long shadow blocking off the streetlights and attached spotlights that illuminated the carnival. She slowly straightened her back as she lifted her head, taking her out of the shadow, the light creating a shone on her glasses as she looked to the one towering above her. Long muzzle. Long limbs. His eyes... fearful. Needful. He tried to look as normal as possible to hide what he really was.

The two stayed there for a long moment, him lost in her glare-coated glasses, her looking up at his great height. Kirana finally broke the spell by clearing her throat, lightly taking Ame's shoulder and pulling her aside a little. "Yes, can we get anything for you? We have a good rhythm of sale going."

"I never learned your name," the tall wolf said, quietly. "I never should have said anything I said. It was just me not knowing..."

Ame gingerly took herself out of Kirana's hold and moved back in front of the till as she had been. She stiffly and formally bowed to the wolf. "Ichoji Ame des'," she said with a similar stiff formality.

The huge wolf looked a little hurt but nodded. "Gabu told us how this worked, when he still talked to us..." His enormous form loomed over the trio as he bowed down. "Farkas Bela des-u."

Ame put on a lopsided smile. "You drop the 'u' unless you're a tourist. But you are. You're a long way from home, Farkas-san. Where are the others? You were a pack yankii before. I... I saw one alone. Was his crime..?"

"He betrayed us," Bela said, matter-of-factly. "Them. No, not with May. He was smarter than all of us. When he met May he knew we were no good. It took me seeing horrors and being slapped in the face with words from someone who understood where I was heading. I saw... heard a rabbit scream. I never want... I want to live my whole life never hearing that again."

Sumbadra thoughtlessly pushed her way forward, looking timid, but her bulk more than a match for the unnaturally tall wolf. "You can't hurt Ame. W-we won't let you!"

"I was there," Bela said softly. "With older men. Stupid older ones who believed the same lie. The tiger he... he cut her arm and she screamed. Blood. Raw and savage. I got sick. The scream, the smell, I wanted to run away, curl up and die. A good mammal, he helped me. And his mother-in-law wrote about that. Told me what I needed to know."

"And what did you need to know?" Kirana asked, the quirk of one brow making the overhang of wool pop up slightly.

"Savagery is a con. A scam to bleed money from the pretentious or the sad. Predators have troubles. But no amount of trouble justifies... what I said. When I thought a savage was what I was... I was repeating things. Saying things I didn't understand. Sterile things in books. Blood is not that clean. I want kind Lupercalia with laughing goats giggling as they're tapped with flower garlands by tittering wolves. Love notes passing around during a feat of fruits and grains. I almost didn't come," Bela admitted.

"You did. Why?" Ame asked.

"The fear in your eyes... no... the hope in your eyes that I made go away," Bela muttered. "Outsiders..."

"Know their own," Ame finished. He had seen her eyes behind the heavy glasses?

"I wanted to say it was wrong. I thought about what I did when I finally knew I was being an idiot. I had nothing else. I had to say anything. Everything. All that I thought, because something, I thought, would reach you. Something. But I felt stung. I was mad at myself, and said I was mad at every prey, just to spare my own ego," Bela rumbled, crouching down and setting his elbows on the table. "I'm sorry... Ame. It meant so much."

Ame drummed her fingers on the table, regarding Bela's rather piteous look. "What was this good mammal's name?"

"I don't... I don't really know. He was undercover, getting information. A rough weasel, he looked the part, spoke the part, fit in with the dregs and losers. His mother-in-law was in the paper, Muffet McGnaw, she wrote about savagery being a scam targeting the saddest. A philosophy built on being a failure, never being told how to be a success, but who to blame and how to screech over being a loser," Bela explained.

Kirana was on her phone, typing away as Bela spoke. After a bit of scrolling she lifted up her wool puff for a better look and nodded. "Muffet Lanige nee McGnaw, writes under her maiden name freelance. Hyenahurst socialite. Her daughter Muffin is married to a weasel, Duke Lanige nee Weaselton. I even found the article he read. She dedicated it to him for getting the information."

"So you had a change of heart," Ame stated, not asked. "And that fixes everything?"

"No," Bela said bluntly. "It changes nothing but where I might end up. And that I might have a chance at reconciling with Gabu. We are the same. Lone wolves. But he was smarter than-"

"I saw him at Neko no Seimei," Ame interrupted. "I recognized him. From that night. He wasn't a delinquent anymore. He was with a goat. May, I guess."

Bela nodded. "She's nice, I suppose. Small and nice. But not my number."

"Do you actually know it or are you casting a net?" Ame asked with an easy smile. She knew the answer, but had an escape if he didn't admit it.

"Family leporidae," Bela answered. "I took an online quiz. I didn't have enough strength to ask my parents to have me tested. I know other did. Gabu did, he explained why he never hit on other wolves. I just though I was too good for it. No. I knew my kind by sight."

Ame drummed her fingers on the table again, twitching her nose and finally noticing something. Standing back from the bake sale table were two figures. Long-limbed, tall, reedy. "I see. I see. No one gets a second chance, not really. They replay the first chance with prejudice and a different mind, hopefully. What would you say to me this time?"

"You're very pretty," Bela said with something of a dopey smile. "I love your coat pattern, it makes you stand out. I-I'm... I'm Bela Farkas, from Savanna Prep." He held out a hand hopefully and continued to squat there in front of the booth.

The hand was accepted, tiny hand swallowed by the giant palm. "Ame Ichoji. You're very polite. These are my friends, Kirana and Sumbadra. You caught me after shrine time, normally I'd have been with them."

Bela nodded to the other two and continued to smile. "If you're not busy, I go home for a Nocturnal weekend. We could spend the overlap day getting something to eat and seeing a movie."

"And your parents drive you?" Ame asked, looking at the indistinct figures.

"I take public transportation a lot, but they can if it isn't too far. Unless I really beg, drop my ears and tuck. But I... don't do that much," Bela noted with a slight rub at the back of his neck.

"I do want to see what you're all about. I don't see many like you, long limbs and all. So tall and thin. But I don't know when. I have to keep at the booth and sell snacks," Ame said.

"Oh just go check out the carnival with his parents as chaperones," Kirana grunted. "Rub it in that I still can't find a pachyderm millionaire model adventurer. We can sell this stuff. It's baked goods, they sell themselves."

"We'll make lots of money for the department!" Sumbadra promised.

"Why not? Why not?" Ame said, literally leaping over the table to be beside Bela. "Not a second chance. But, eh, what's wrong with a better do-over?" She took his hand and they both walked to the long, lank pair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ojuzu- Buddhist prayer beads, normally, as indicated, in a string of one hundred and eight.
> 
> Majutsu- Witchcraft. It's a long walk around the block, but Ame just called Kaho a witch while rejecting her fortunetelling
> 
> Enmutsubi- A love charm
> 
> Omamori- The generic name for all kinds of protective charms.
> 
> Ookami- Japanese for wolf
> 
> The play- Though barely touched on it's a very much expanded and modified version of the song/poem "Snow Magic" a Russian-esque story about a man who falls in love with a woman who is actually a wolf, who gives up her human form by killing assassins that came after him, spilling blood being the taboo that breaks her spell.
> 
> Kiwano Mbembe- A little nod to Kai from Beastars. Context clues like being a male in a girl's uniform and, naturally, his name, indicate he's a mongoose that's been raised by Zootopian hyenas. Quite happily, it would seem.
> 
> Shishi- Chinese lion statues. Her jealousy is deep and irrational.
> 
> The old country where senpai came from- Another little wink and nod to Kaho being Osakan. There's a big stereotype of them being businessmen
> 
> Zero- Not a slur, the designation for someone who isn't an Inter or Outsider. Basically, species-straight.
> 
> Casting net- Something between a dismissive indication of a species-pansexual and a mockery of the idea as someone merely being edgy. Here, it's her accusing him of being edgy.


	6. Laughing Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night for the teens involved in the Savanna Central Sanctuary and all those associated with them. This thread follows Nuka and Kaho chaperoning a gaggle of younger teens to Tanukitown.

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Six: Laughing Matters**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

The Hyenahurst rugby team was quite close-knit, as was appropriate for a sports team. But three members stood out as especially close. Janja Nguvu, Chungu Kupendeka, and Cheezi Mandoku. They were thick as thieves and happy as larks. They had this high school thing sewed up pretty tight. Popular jocks at a prep school, all three with very good knowledge of how to manage and keep a household like every hyena boy should, and all dating fantastic ladies. Two cheerleaders from a rival academy, and one Tender's daughter. That put Cheezi vaguely ahead. His small, bug-eyed look made him extra cute, a serious male hyena bump, and his girl, Madoa Fisi, was both slightly older and slightly taller than him. But he didn't brag, his friends were incredibly happy with the lionesses they had met.

A member of that rival academy was also quite friendly to the three. Antagonistic at first, Kion Pride had wiped out conflict and brought a peace to them all and had, in fact, introduced Janja and Chungu to their girlfriends, a kindness the two never forgot. Practical matters meant hanging out regularly was not always possible but when they could, they made an effort, as his own girlfriend, Jasiri Fisi, was Madoa's younger sister, meaning Madoa could serve as chaperone when out with Cheezi, who would often bring along his friends.

The circle of friendship that was made was wide and vast, even when cutting it down to group date candidates. Their cheetah friend Fuli and her pale leopard boyfriend Badili; Kion's old friend and technical brother Bunga, whose golden zebra girlfriend Dhahabu was privately tutored due to her job as a pop singer; and lately Gabu and May, a wolf and goat, who had needed protection from Gabu's former pack's new leader, Mapigano, Badili's older brother; even Kion's sister Kiara was included, as she was friends with Zuri Kiburi, Janja's girlfriend, and Tiifu Tamu, Chunga's girlfriend, and she could bring her own girlfriend, Vitani Kaamu; that could lead to an auxiliary or alternate chaperone situation if Vitani's brother Nuka was out with his girlfriend, Kaho Mujina, a tanuki miko from Vine County.

With so much variety, dating configurations could take up any number of forms based on who was available and if it was weekend free time, after school free time, special holiday free time or some other bit of time. The Inters and Outsiders, for instance, could do work for the Interspecies Relationship Support Network in Hyenahurst or Savanna Central. Family togetherness time could be accomplished with the Fisi sisters, the Kaamu siblings, and the Pride siblings, with Cheezi and Kaho added in. Most of the time, though, it was all about the hyenas.

The difference in location almost made it an imperative that they share date time, as that was a special occasion. Most such date nights consisted of the locals getting together to prepare before heading off to the agreed-upon date location. Typically for the Hyenahurst boys, that was at Janja's place where his father proudly assisted them in crafting their looks, while his mother took pictures for Snoutbook and Howler.

"Gotta keep the puff lookin' good. Zuri loves it," Janja said, crowded around the bathroom mirror with Chungu and Cheezi. The trio of jocks were shirtless, wearing towels, all of them teasing up their head-puffs. They had grown more comfortable with their muscular bodies, which had been a bit of an issue prior to their finding girls who liked that. That was normal for the lionesses but Madoa was a bit of an anomaly, a hyena girl who liked both Cheezi's awkwardly cute face and his strong body.

"Tiifu says she likes it but I don't know..." Chungu said, flexing his arms and making his biceps bulge out, his pecs surging a bit as well. "Lionesses like the dark manes, but I think she really likes all my muscles but doesn't say it. She thinks it embarrasses me. She so sweet."

"Madoa's really nice. She says my muscles are all skinny and smooth; I know they're too big but Madoa's a nice girl. An _older_ big girl," Cheezi said with a puff of his slim chest and an upward cant of his head.

"Yeah, yeah, don't matter none. Zuri's gonna be an upper executive over at Pride. Or at City-State Records. Or a lawyer, ma said she could get Zuri in at ZU right in the law track. I'm gonna be household managing a pretty nice condo," Janja said with a little smile, using an eyeliner pen to add a little extra highlighting to his eyes and touching up a few of his spots. "Bet I can even find a dress that fits and looks good."

"Yeah! Tiifu's gonna be Kiara's CFO. Kion's not taking over the business, he's just gonna go be a gymnast. Works for me. I'll get to take care of a big place too," Chungu proudly stated, using lipstick to subtly bring out his lips, and a small colored powder palette to really work over his spots and the lines around his face.

"Boys! I know it takes men forever to get ready but you really should get going," Mr. Nguvu called from outside the bathroom.

"Lion's preen. We ain't so different," Janja said, slipping on a silk shirt and quickly looping one of his Hyenahurst Academy ties around the collar. "Zuri likes when I take the time."

"I'm trying something new tonight, brought something Madoa picked out special," Cheezi said, unzipping a garment bag he had brought with him. He reached in and slipped out a stunning red sheath dress with ruffled shoulders and a folded collar area. "Ain't it beautiful?"

"Wow! A bigger girl picked out a dress for you! You're so lucky," Chungu commented with a happy clap.

"Look at those lines, wide shoulder space and ruffles, slinky. Tryin' to show us up there, Cheezi?" Janja asked with a toothy grin.

"Aww, it was just a nice gift..." Cheezi demurely said, grunting slightly as he slipped himself into it, yapping happily as his head popped out, taking some time to fiddle with the ruffled shoulders to make them sit right and for all the ruffles to be free.

The three boys completed their dressing, getting in one last bit of preening before stepping out into the tastefully done living room of the condo. It was a standard space, airy but compact, filled with nicely made furniture and a decent amount of electronics. They emerged happily into a sea of flashes. Janja's mother was again set up with her phone, snapping pictures and grinning widely. "Looking good, boys! You'll trend nicely. I'm sure your parents will be happy to share and echo-howl your photos."

"Be sure to get my good side!" Cheezi chirped, turning in different poses to show off the shimmery dress.

"Zuri's gonna get featured again. Hard not to with all this on her arm. Perfect arm candy right here," Janja boasted, grin wide and hands smoothy stroking his slicked-up puff of head fur.

"Oh you'll be such an attentive househusband. You won't even need a maid or anything," Janja's mother said with a proud smile, suddenly wrapping him up in a huge hug. "My little kit, growing up so fast and finding a wife to provide for a household!"

"Ma! Come on, ma, that's embarrassing..." Jana mumbled, giving and askance glance to his giggling teammates. "Laugh it up, fur-brains, I'll bet yer mas do the same thing!"

"Now, plans. Again, you can never tell your overprotective dad enough times," Mr. Nguvu said with a clap of his hands.

Janja rolled his eyes and ginned. "Right to Tender Fisi's manse, everyone's there. We got two different plans tonight. Half of us are gonna check out Tanukitown, that's where we'll be. Kion and his friends are gonna stay in the District."

"I won't be going," Cheezi piped up. "Madoa's chaperoning her sister and the other ones, so I get to go along."

"We'll both have limos. Kion and Kiara both get way more money now that their ma handles all the cash," Janja noted. "First class ride up where we want."

"I never thought I would say it, but about time she was dealing with the money. Simba Pride has clearly never had any instruction on household management," Mrs. Nguvu snorted.

A chime from Chungu's phone got his attention and he gave it a look. "Zuber's here! We can get going."

"Have fun, kits! But not too much... you all have protection, right?" Mrs. Nguvu asked.

"And Zuri's on the pill, her ma told me," Janja casually noted, holding the door for his friends.

"I got mine! Tiifu doesn't ask for that, she's too nice, but I'm all ready in case," Chungu proudly said.

"Madoa keeps extra, but I always have mine. Her dad makes sure she's always prepared," Cheezi said.

As the door closed the two older hyenas leaned against one another, smiling and nodding. "Speaking of that..." Mrs. Nguvu said with a throaty voice.

"I don't have mine, but I don't think you mind," Mr. Nguvu teased, sashaying his dress-clad body down the hall to the master bedroom of the condo, trailed by his hyena-laughing wife.

The trio of hyenas piled into the back of a fairly robust SUV that was waiting out by the curb by the condo. The driver, a fairly nondescript bongo, checked his phone and quirked his brow. "Really, from here to there? Public transport not working?"

Janja rolled his eyes and motioned for him to go. "We look broke, fur-brain? You're gettin' mileage plus a tip. Ain't that what you sighed up for?"

"I was going to do jaunts, in-district," the driver muttered as he pulled away from the curb. "And is that address for real? You're doing sanctuary now? You don't look like the type."

"We could, it's fun helping," Chungu said with a huge smile.

"But we're meeting friends at the manse. Just get us to the gate, Tender Fisi will do the rest," Janja said.

"I'm seeing his daughter. His older daughter," Cheezi said with a whooping titter.

"Still don't bother me," Janja said. "Zuri ain't older, but she sure is great."

"Pull the other one. If you get grabbed for vandalism I was the one that told you not to," the driver snorted.

The drive was uneventful, the three lads chatting animatedly about plans while the driver subtly turned up the radio, filling the front of the car with condescending talk radio. When they arrived at the manse gate the driver incredulously looked at the speaker and back at his passengers before pushing the button. "Zuber driver, dropping off three hyenas."

" _One moment, please,"_ a voice on the other end said. In a short time Tender Fisi emerged, dressed in a casual pink shift and his gold pince-nez spectacles. He got to the gate and opened it on seeing Chungu disembark to walk up to the driver's side window and tap a card on the bongo's reader. "Preening, boys? You're the last ones."

"Gotta look sharp for quality queens," Janja said with a casual adjustment of his tie. He winked at the driver and clicked his tongue with a finger-gun motion. "Told ya."

"Why doesn't anybody believe us?" Cheezi asked as he slipped past the gate.

"I wouldn't believe us either. We got lucky," Chungu said as he passed a few bills along in addition to the card payment. He even stood and waved as the driver pulled away.

"Happy accidents are more happy than accident, as I say often," Tender Fisi said, ushering the trio into the manse.

In the manse the cozy ordinariness was on full display. It was, as always, a relatively normal-looking home that seemed very much like what folk thought of as a suburban house. Plastered white walls loaded with framed family photos, extremely middle class IBEXA furniture, a thick grass green carpet underpaw. The living room was large, fading into an also large dining area with a kitchen visible over a wall that was topped with a Formica bar top that faced toward the dining area.

Lounging around on the various bits of furniture, or raiding the kitchen for snacks, were the other members of the planned outing. Madoa ran up to hug Cheezi tightly, spinning him around a bit. She had on a very lovely matching dress that looked quite good on her frame. Her sister Jasiri laughed from the couch, where she was settled with Kion. The lion had his Savanna Prep uniform of slacks and a white shirt, with a tie and his letter jacket. Also in SPA kit were fellow classmates Bunga, Fuli, Badili, and Kiara. Zuri and Tiifu were specifically wearing the white blouse and blue vest, but had their cheerleader skirts on rather than the normal uniform midi. Dahahabu, who was ruffling Bunga's hair while he sat in her lap, was in a colorful skirt and blouse combo with a pleather jacket that seemed to be just upper sleeves, shoulders, a back panel and a neck portion. It didn't even look like it could close. Vitani, as ever, was in distressed black jeans stapled up over her paws, a Candide tour tee under a mesh shirt and black-and-red striped sleeves pinned to the shirt, with a lump in the right one indicating she was still carting around her butterfly knife. Lastly, her brother Nuka was there with his date, still in a button-up, a thin black tie and black slacks, but with a Chibimetal jacking hanging off his shoulders and his mane up-oiled into a swirling pompadour. His date, the tanuki Kaho, was finally out of both her Iriomote uniform, and her miko attire, but she was almost strictly playing to the cliché her face demanded. She moved deftly and easily on long-projection geta sandals, to be nearer to Nuka's height, had on cocoa sweatpants, a Chibimetal tee, and an open brown jacket. Taking away from her plain look, studded lizard leather bracelets and a lizard leather choker, the studs looking like real silver, no doubt gifts from Nuka.

"What kept you?" Kion asked with a grin.

"Oh like you don't take forever gettin' ready too?" Janja snarked back.

"He's not as preeny as hyena boys, he just needs a little bit of time," Jasiri giggled.

"Well well... you really look good, sweetness," Madoa said, leaning down to grasp Cheezi by the cheeks and pulling him forward for a kiss.

"Mmm! Thank you! I feel so pretty!" Cheezi laughed, dancing a little bit.

"In some form or another I have spoken to all your parents," Tender Fisi said. "They all know what will be happening, and who will be in charge. Madoa, I expect very, very much of you, as does your mother."

Madoa snapped into finger-guns and winked at her father. "I'm on it. No problem at all."

"And you, young Mr. Kaamu also have the eye of your mother upon you. I trust that you and Miss Mujina will be capable of keeping order."

"I'd never disappoint her. We're gonna be perfect as always!" Nuka cried.

"You can rely on us, Fisi-san," Kaho said with a bow. "Let us go now, Nu-kun. The limo is waiting."

"Okay, form up, everybody heading out to Vine Country, let's try to keep it together," Nuka called.

"I won't make it easy to impress your shrine-girl girlfriend, big brother," Vitani scoffed, a toothy grin on her face as she sauntered out the door with an arm around Kiara. "I'll make you work to earn canid-kisses and looking like a star."

"Joke's on you, sis, Kaho already thinks I'm a star," Nuka said with a triumphant smile, pulling Kaho against his side, which set her inkdip tail to swishing.

Nuka and Kaho led out a group consisting of Vitani, Kiara, Janja, Zuri, Chungu, and Tiifu, taking them through the gate to one of two limos parked on the street. The interior was all white, with plush carpets and bleached lizard leather covers on the seats that lined the perimeter. Soft drinks were provided along with a screen indicating what could be played from the subtle but very present speakers in the corners of the passenger section.

"You've really got some stuff, brother. One canid, everyone else is feliform. And you don't give a hack. When did you grow enough to deserve that mane color?" Vitani asked, buckling herself in beside Kiara.

"Mother raised me right," Nuka simply said, taking a seat with Kaho by the partition.

The partition slowly slid down to show the driver to be a coyote in a natty black uniform. "I have the destination, are you ready to head off, niños?"

"Absolutely! Once we're in the area... uh, shrine first?" Nuka asked.

Kaho nodded and motioned to the driver. "Yes. If you could please, sir?"

With a nod and chuckle the driver started up the long car and pulled smoothly out into the Zootopian night.

o o o

"You know, this does nothing to help my situation and makes things much worse," Kirana Badak, the Sumatran woolly rhino, grumped, as she strolled down the streets of Vine Country's business and entertainment area. She had on a fairly bland outfit, just a long, plain gray skirt and a white blouse with a lighter gray vest over it. She was accompanied by, and talking to, her friends Sumbadra Belang the Sumatran tigress, the enormous teen done up almost exactly like her rhino friend but she had a pink skirt and vest combo; Kiwano Mbembe the flamboyant mongoose, wearing a neon pink midi skirt, an equally loud tie-dye tee with a screen print of Gazelle and a good deal of makeup; Ame Ichoji the perfect Magpie Harlequin rabbit, the hippy and short dumpling doe wearing a casual modified yukata that had been sewn and shaped to look more like a pencil skirt and sleeved blouse, though it was still brightly patterned with an almond blossom motif; and last, a new addition, Ame's boyfriend Bela Farkas, the long, tall, skinny wolf, his almost skeletal limbs wrapped up in a simple pair of khakis and a button-up, with the sleeves rolled up a ways and his black tie hanging slightly askew.

"Much worse? No, much worse is wanting a mongoose and just a mongoose. A nice boy with nice parents. Beat that," Kiwano huffed, though with a smile and bright eyes.

"You're single too, you should be complaining Ame brings spooky scary emo wolf with us," Kirana grumbled. "I'm happy for you, Ame, but I want to be happy too. Get some thick-skinned women out here and then we're talking. Throw in their brothers for Sumbadra."

"Kirana!" Sumbadra squeaked, shaking her head and panting as her nose dried.

"Senpai!" Ame suddenly called, throwing up a hand to wave past the slight crowd. Without hesitation or prompting Bela hefted her up and set her on his shoulder. "Thanks! Senpai! Wow... that's a crowd."

"Ame! How lovely to see you. Good to know you made good choices after our talk," Kaho chuckled, leading the group over toward the other teens.

"Talk to my friends, get out of my own head, have a do-over when presented. Oh yeah..." Ame ruffled Bela's crown a bit and hugged his head. "This is Bela. He's not creepy anymore."

"He's not a creeper anymore," Kirana corrected. "He's still all done up for Hallowvest all the time, but that's just a bonus for that time of the year."

"Whoa, who's the walking stick bug? You captain of the basketball team somewhere?" Janja asked, stepping forward to regard the unusually tall wolf.

"I was too disinterested in such things, too up my own rear end to..." Bela began, halting when he noticed Zuri wearing her Savanna Prep kit. Then the rest behind with their similar attire. "Cheerleaders. Of course. I don't have my own uniform on a lot. Bela Farkas, you've probably never seen me. I was an idiot that used to be in Hector's wolf pack, the one Mapigano runs now."

"Oh! One of those wolves!" Zuri cried out. "We've had to deal with them a few times. One of your other smart friends that got out asked us for help with that."

"Yes, I know. I was stupidly resentful longer than I should have been. I didn't see you there before," Bela said, carefully putting Ame back on the ground as his curled arm hold of her was starting to cause a cramp. "How did other Savanna types get to know Ame?"

"Because of Nu-kun," Kaho said, pressing against Nuka comfortably. "See, you know Nu-kun. That's his sister," she said, pointing to Vitani, who gave a lazy wave. "And her girlfriend Kiara, head Savanna cheerleader. And her friends."

"And we're from Hyenahurst," Janja said, pointing at Chungu and himself. "Knew you weren't on the team, I keep track of all the sports. Need to keep the competition in mind."

Ame adjsuted her glasses and quickly moved from mammal to mammal, pointing as she spoke. "Bela, who you know. My friends, Kirana, Sumbadra, and Kiwano. He was raised by..."

"Hyenas. Love your skirt. Didn't know they made neon midis that were that controlled. I can't wear them but maybe we can get Cheezi into one," Chunga said, nodding appreciatively.

"It's almost impossible to find neon clothes that aren't made entirely of pleather. I like how cloth sits," Kiwano said, brushing down his skirt. "What's the matter, think you're too bulky for nice dresses? My uncle has good muscles but he still gets completely OL on the job and at home. His wife loves it and she's not even a hyena."

"Was she a... wah? I forget, we need to hang out more..." Sumbadra shyly said, her nose drying a little again. "Aren't they Outsiders?"

"Wah? Ain't they needleteeth like weasels? You look the part too. I know ya ain't; civet critter, kinda like us but eh, close enough," Janja shrugged.

"They had to move here because pointy as aunt Suko's teeth are she's a bamboo disposal unit. You know it's still illegal in Nippon to have an Outsider marriage? Actually illegal! That's crazy," Kiwano said.

"Why do you think I like living here?" Kaho asked, stroking Nuka's cheek.

"We aren't interrupting anything important, are we?" Tiifu shyly asked.

"It's never a bad time to escort a newcomer through the business district and feed him spicy fish stew and seasoned insects," Ame said, giving Bela's arm a tug. "We were about to go get some tea."

"Neko no Seimei? That was a planned stop. Guess we can go to the shrine after..." Kaho said.

"Sure, let's have more couples," Kirana grumbled.

"Like I have it any better, just smile and have a good time out," Kiwano said with a cheerful grin and a little leap in his step.

The expanded group moved as a very orderly mass, headed by Nuka and Kaho, through the streets, catching all of the most interesting looks. Mostly shock at seeing such a large group of teens in one big ball, occasional smiles from those who knew some portion of the procession, and plenty of askance glances and frowns concerning some constituent couple combination or another.

"Anyone putting money on what they object to?" Kirana asked. "I mean, easy cash is on Ame and the skeleton."

"Admittedly true," Ame said with a smile. "But senpai is a canid, and her shishi is not. So very not. I know any number of mammals that would be absolutely scandalized."

"Canids and felids? It's not like they're a wolf and a tiger," Tiifu said. "I heard about that kind of thing. Some college student beat up her abusive sister and started dating the sister's abused boyfriend."

"The tigresses are from a very prominent family from here," Kaho said. "They didn't want to be scandalized so said they were proud of their youngest. They were trying very hard to save face for raising a queen that could be sent to jail."

"Typical. All about image, like Mr. Pride," Janja said, getting a small slap on the back of his hand from Zuri.

"Be nice, Kiara's right here!" Zuri scolded.

"Princess knows what's up," Vitani said, gently nuzzling Kiara's cheek. "She just... hey, it's family stuff, she's quiet."

"Father has a preference for smooth running, he has the Suits. He used... that other queen... to try and make everything go back to the normal he was used to. It's not a good way to go about things," Kiara said, returning the nuzzle.

"Will they have space? I never counted the tables..." Sumbadra mumbled softly.

"We can split up a little. Think you could handle a group inside?" Nuka asked Bela.

"I only look like an adult, I'm not that much older," Bela said with a rub at the back of his neck. "It's a family problem. I think we inherited some ancient dire wolf stock from the old country. Magyarország is apparently full of us."

"I know where I'd want to vacation," Ame said with a laugh.

The cafe was being overseen by a very familiar wah waitress who noticed the large group and started counting with her pencil. "Ah! W-welcome! Goodness... if you can wait for a bit we can accommodate you in the outdoor seating. Service may be... delayed, but you will be served."

"This is a lot, but if we can be seated, that would be wonderful," Kaho said with a smile. "We will give you plenty of incentive. No leaves, all notes," she added with a deep chuckle, that got a laugh from Nuka, Ame, Kirana, Sumbadra and Kiwano.

"You!" A voice called out as the group was waiting. With Bela on the fringes of the group, and being so tall, he stood out and attracted all the attention first. The one who had called out to him was Gabu Akayama, the milk chocolate brown wolf. He was in his Savanna Prep uniform, alongside May Greystone in her own skirt variation of it. The two had been approaching the cafe at an angle that put Bela first in sight. "I said we were done with running into each other."

"I can't control where you show up, Gabu," Bela said with a roll of his eyes. "In point of fact, we were here first."

"We?" Gabu asked, finally taking the time to look around Bela to the large group. Those already familiar with the pair offered waves to them. He even noticed Ame, smiling her braces-shining smile and adjusting her glasses. "How?"

"I could stroke your bristling ego and say it was because you clocked me in the jaw, but I'm not that kind of wolf," Bela said with a wide grin. "I fell down a hole of my own stupidity so deep and dark only a very kind mammal with more heart than sense deciding to give an idiot like me good advice pushed me back up out of it. And then I had a do-over with Ame. I was, thankfully, smarter the second time."

"He isn't perfect, but he made progress. I give credit for progress," Ame said, pulling Bela's hand to her lips and giving it a kiss.

"Aww! That's so sweet!" May bleated, clasping her hooves together and gamboling about beside Gabu. "I already know some of you, but not all of you."

"Oh yeah, you told me you escorted them a few times," Janja said to Zuri. "Said if I saw a weak leopard it was okay, if I saw a strong one, beat his hide into paste."

"I never said paste," Zuri said. "I said chunky mince. He's a jerk that keeps trying to hurt these two. Since we're there anyhow we can keep them safe. On campus I take care of watching May, with Tiifu and Kiara. And Fuli." She started pointing around at everyone not from Savanna Prep. "My boyfriend Janja from Hyenahurst Academy. His friend and teammate Chungu. You know Kiara, that's her girlfriend Vitani that she never stops talking about. And that's Vitani's oldest brother Nuka, with his girlfriend Kaho."

"You really keep talking about me, princess? Of course, a queen like me can't get out of your head," Vitani said with a cheese-eating smirk, drawing Kiara in for a hug.

"Ahem..." Ame said, lightly nudging Bela.

"What? Oh, right..." Bela cleared his throat. "Were you intending to eat here? You could... join us..."

Gabu was about to say something but cleared his throat and looked down at his girlfriend. "May, do you think we should stick around with our plan?"

May counted off all the members of the group and shook her head. "It's already too big. We shouldn't bother the workers. We can go to Kuzunoha and share ramen."

"I sense a need of reconciliation," Kirana suddenly said. "Ame, you know it. You know there was some bad blood, he mumbles about it enough."

"I like Kuzunoha..." Ame said, stroking her chin. "Senpai, would it be alright if we went with them?"

"I think it would emotionally damage the servers here much less," Kaho said with a bright laugh.

May tugged somewhat firmly on Gabu's arm and gave his a pouting look. "Be nice!"

Gabu grinned a bit awkwardly and motioned on up the street. "C-come on. I'm sure things will be alright."

The wah returned as the remaining group was waving to the departing mammals. "Ah, well... saves us a bit on table space," she said with a chuckle. "Please, follow me. You... might need to arrange all the pairs yourselves."

"He's with the canid," Vitani said, pointing at her brother.

"Still not a problem," Nuka said, pulling out a chair for Kaho, mimicking what Vitani was doing for Kiara.

"All doubles, three's a stretch," Zuri said, pulling out a chair for Janja and grinning at him.

Janja took a seat with a hooting laugh. "That's my kinda woman."

"Don't break the bank, but get what you like," Nuka said, glancing over the price-side of the menu and looking a bit concerned.

Kiara laughed and pulled a card from the small clutch purse she had had tucked at her side. "I promised we'd go easy on it but it all comes out of here."

"Big brother, did you forget that princess here is too nice?" Vitani laughed, kissing Kiara's cheek. "Your future sister-in-law has got the bucks. You're just not used to having walking-around money yet."

"I only spend money on Kaho," Nuka asserted with a proud huff.

"Nu-kun..." Kaho pecked Nuka on the cheek and swished her thick, fluffy canid tail.

"Of course you do," Vitani said with a roll of her eyes.

"He gets it," Janja laughed. "Wanna split?"

"Feed me, like a good hyena," Zuri said with a little exaggerated cackle. "But it would be nice to split some fish soup and noodles."

"It's great we can even get food here at a cafe. I hope we're not going to overwhelm them," Tiifu said.

"Bulk order, it's the only good way," Chungu said with a nod."

"We're all predators here, that makes it easier," Nuka said. He got the attention of the wah waitress and pointed to the menu. "Can we get four large bowls of the dashi udon with extra naruto? Two chopsticks each. And four pots of tea, three orange pekoe, one powdered green please."

"You remembered," Kaho cooed, tail wagging a bit faster.

"Your mother was very specific about every step," Nuka said with a laugh.

"Think Cheezi's having a good time too?" Chungu asked.

"You kiddin'? He's always going on about his bigger, older girl. 'Course he is. Dunno where Madoa's takin' them, but he's gonna love it," Janja insisted with a firm nod.

The city hubbub slowly enveloped the group of daters, lost in their own close-talking conversations, casually awaiting the arrival of their meal to open up the activity of the night.


	7. Snouts Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night, part two, with the other set of couples.

I do not own Zootopia, that belongs to Disney. This a fan work made solely for the sake of amusement.

**The One That I Want**

**Chapter Seven: Snouts Service**

**By: Gabriel LaVedier**

"Not that I care to move too much, I'm having too good a time, but are we going to use that limo that Mrs. Pride hired?" Jasiri was casually laying across Kion's lap, luxuriating in his unspoken agreement to give her occasional strokes and tender touches around her chin and cheeks. "I'd hate to waste someone else's money."

"If you really didn't care you wouldn't have said anything, little sister," Madoa said with a roll of her eyes. For her part, she had Cheezi in her lap and was gently petting his puff of black fur. "I thought you would like to spend more time having that lion of yours pampering you. You can't ever be normal, can you?'

"This is a sign of great respect and Kion knows it," Jasiri asserted. "He's stroking over me, and I'm in his lap. He has the strength to hold me and he can savor stroking me. It's a real honor, right, Kion?"

Kion chuckled softly and stroked his hands down her cheeks and along her neck. "If I didn't have school and gym practice I'd want to be petting you all the time."

Madoa cut off a comment that Jasiri was opening her mouth to give. "Don't gloat, it's uncouth."

"Excessive pride is unbecoming of a good, household-heading hyena woman," Tender Fisi said.

"It's what ruined our household," Kion mattered with a sigh.

"Nomammal is perfect," Jasiri said, leaning in to kiss Kion's nose pad. "But you're close enough."

"Don't give me a big head, I'll end up like dad, I have the cursed red mane and everything," Kion sighed.

"Modern mammals don't believe in curses," Jasiri said, very matter-of-factly. "That's Drought talk, and you'll bring the dew-stealer. Leave that to the Selenics."

"Jasiri, be nice," Tender Fisi chided. "I know many of the Houngans, Mambos, and Bokors in the city. Few as there are, they still exist. Many of the poorer predators feel a connection to the Selenic Convocation, and that is wonderful. Besides, Kion's father probably misinterpreted our own teachings. There's a lot of variety."

"Vitani's kind of Selenic," Kion said. "The whole family says they are but they just keep a moon shrine at home and roar on full moon nights with the rest of the boarding house. I don't know if they've ever had a Houngan, a Mambo, or a Bokor over."

"They have one there," Jasiri said. When Kion gave her a look she grinned and kissed his nose. "I talk to more mammals than just you. I do occasionally speak to my future sisters-in-law. Apparently one of the women that lives there is a fully ordained Mambo, she just has very little call to do anything. If Happytown ever gets some respect she said she'd preside over a Convocation, they have enough Selenic folk."

"There you are, they're just as respectable as we are," Tender Fisi said.

"I know that, it was just a joke," Jasiri said with a smile. "But you're not cursed. Our children will have black manes when they come out more lyena, and very bold, proud spots with your excellent golden coat if they come out a bit more hyon."

"They can pass for hyenas, I don't mind at all," Kion said.

"You want cheetahs with rosettes or leopards with spots and teardrops?" Fuli asked Badili, who was casually nestled into her lap, making soft and high-pitched rumble-growls while she purred. "I don't have them but we're outliers. I think regular cheetah patterns come in if we have kids with non-king-marked mammals."

"G-gosh I... whew..." Badili tucked his dry nose under Fuli's chin and hid his eyes. "Doesn't make much matter. Cheepards are cheepards. Gonna be mighty cute little critters."

"Honey zebras should be cute," Dhahabu mused, ruffling Bunga's head. "Golden stripes will really make them look like honey."

"Ahaha! Ahaha!" Bunga laughed nervously, eyes incredibly wide. By default, he was in Dhahabu's lap, the larger teen softly stroking his desperately conditioned fur. "I mean yeah... kids are things! I'm not incredibly scared of the thought of having kids with the most perfect zebra ever! I'm not talking loud, everyone's listening too hard! You're out of order!"

"Same old Bunga... doesn't matter who he's dating," Kion chuckled.

"We all knew he'd be like this," Fuli said with a roll of her eyes. "But seriously, we have a plan, right?"

"Naturally," Madoa asserted, adjusting Cheezi's attire. "I saw an ad in the local weekly for a place that's just perfect for Cheezi. It's called Snouts, family-friendly drag theater and dining."

"I'll probably work there in college," Cheezi said with his trademark dopey smile. "I don't hafta, I'll have it all paid off, but the ad looked nice, and I want to. Sounds like one of those respectable jobs."

"It's customer service, dad always said they were pretty low things," Kion said with a shake of his head. "Nothing's wrong with it. They just need more rotating workers. I know this economic stuff better than he does, mostly because mom helped me out with it."

"I don't want to say the hyena style's right..." Jasiri teased, ruffling Kion's mane.

"Jasiri," Tender Fisi warned, looking sternly over the top of his pince-nez spectacles at her.

"Only a joke," Jasiri laughed.

"But not not all wrong," Kion grumbled.

Madoa kissed Cheezi on the head, and softly set him down on his paws. "Let's go, so we don't waste Mrs. Pride's money."

"Photo op!" Mrs. Fisi cried out, using her phone camera to snap shocked candid shots of the various couples. Dhahabu was prepared, posing with Bunga and giving him kisses as the camera snapped. "Our little girls, dating. They're growing up so fast..."

"We'll always be your little cubs," Jasiri said, hugging Kion close by her side for the photos. "Even when we get married and move out, we're your little cubs forever."

"The dads will never let me be anything but their cub. I kinda like it," Bunga said, an arm around Dhahabu's thighs, head resting on her hip. "Now that I think... dad Timon did drag a lot back when. Now I get to see it without creaky joints and dad Pumbaa having to rub him with with the really minty ointment."

"He's still trying to do the dancing stuff with the grass skirt?" Kion asked.

"He stopped doing it around you, he keeps trying it in the house when he sees someone in drag on TV," Bunga said with a shake of his head. "He thinks it cute. Dad Pumbaa thinks he's crazy. But he still keeps the minty ointment."

"Decent parents should raise decent children. Seems some toxic elements cannot be escaped..." Tender Fisi said, slapping on a smile and clearing his throat. "But good influences and careful thought can triumph. I know you'll be a fine mammal, young Kion."

"I won't get stuck in my head like him," Kion firmly said.

"Alright, have fun, stay together and remember Madoa, you're not just in charge of your date. You're the responsible chaperone here," Mrs. Fisi said.

"I know my responsibility. And I have Jasiri with me. Two hyena girls should be able to have all this sewn up," Madoa said.

"Don't overestimate yourself. I'm here too," Fuli said with a grin. "I've got plenty of leadership ability."

"Aren't you going to say anything? You're the Bubblegum Outsider Queen," Bunga asked to Dhahabu.

"I'm the Fabulous Dhahabu, I don't have to say anything," Dhahabu laughed, hugging Bunga's head more firmly against her hip.

The whole line of teens walked out of the manse and out of the gate, to the other limo parked out on the street. Jasiri reached the car first and grandly held the door open for Kion, slightly bowing and grinning at him. He had his own smirk as he slipped into the door, followed by Jasiri and all the rest. The revealed interior was a fantastically opulent bit of design. Rich lizard leather seats, large speakers attached to a touchscreen music system, thick pile carpet, and soft drinks stocked into chilled stations.

"Whoa... this is wild. We're rich enough to get into Savanna Prep but dang, we never use it like this," Fuli said, casually taking a seat and pulling Badili up beside her.

"We're less like this now, dad's saving up money. Mapigano doesn't like that, either," Badili mumbled into Fuli's neck. "He doesn't like a lot of things, really..."

"Sure hope he liked getting his butt kicked, we'll keep doing that for free as often as he makes us," Fuli asserted with a flex of her legs and rake of her non-retractable claws through the shag carpet.

Madoa sat by the partition to the front and knocked on the screen. "We're all in the car."

The partition screen rolled down to reveal an antelope cow with a flat cap, who scanned the back area in the rear view mirror. "Seatbelts on, I'm not getting dinged over some rich cubs on a night out."

"We know how safety works, no need to get snotty," Fuli snarled, checking hers and adjusting Badili's for him.

"Where to, then?" the cow asked.

Madoa typed a few things into her phone and whipped it upward, with a corresponding ding sound heard up front. "The company gave me the information, there's the destination all set."

"Nice, easy fee tonight. You could walk this," The cow said with a laugh, starting the engine and slowly pulling the long vehicle out into the night.

o o o

The club district of Savanna Central was alive with lights, and thumping bass leaked from the bars and clubs to make even the streets a party. Snouts was distinguished by a distinct lack of two elements, a bleeding bassline and an angry wall of muscle with a clipboard. It was full of the expected neon, though. A bland front was transformed into a dizzying array of flashing lights, the buzzing tubes beckoning like a siren song. In addition to the twisting glow, posters out front announced the present headliners, showing off a variety of species in heavy makeup.

The limo managed to find a place to disgorge the teens, the driver dropping the partition before Madoa got off. "There's parking for big rides like this a ways away. I'm gonna chill in here when I get it settled. You have the number to get me when you need it."

"Right! Thanks and I hope it's not too boring," Madoa said.

The antelope laughed and shook her head. "Cub, I work for a company that has me steer fancy junk around and go A to B. I get paid so much I'm embarrassed. I think I can stand listening to a podcast on my phone in a parking garage or a lounge." With that, she gave a wave and took off when Madoa closed the back door.

"I don't know what I was expecting but it looks sort of like what I thought," Kion said with a chuckle.

"Hey look! A meerkat!" Bunga cried out, pointing to a very young looking meerkat in a blue sequin dress, eyes heavily shadowed and lips very defined. "Just like dad Timon!"

"Wait... wait... I know him!" Kion called out, looking at the poster closely. "Dad used to have him go out to keep Kiara safe. Oh, he had this weird name... Anaxamander! He helped her sneak around and keep seeing Vitani back before he got used to the idea. I think that's why he stopped having him watch Kiara. They're still friends but, you know, it gets busy. I guess he got a job here."

"We can ask him. I wanna find out if he got trained by dad Timon," Bunga said.

"Not all meerkats know all the other meerkats," Kion said with a roll of his eyes. "They have to come from the same neighborhood. They're all Hellene-Romagna but they're all different ones."

"Maybe they come from the same neighborhood, maybe that's why your dad hired him," Bunga countered.

"Well... can't argue with that," Kion said with a shrug, graciously sliding into the doors after Jasiri opened them for him.

The inside of the club was classic. The interior was a sea of soft pastel. The walls were napped fabric, to add that extra touch of plush, to go along with the padded rug of soft colors. Twisting diaphanous sheets of shimmering pink material hung down at intervals, shimmering in the indirect lighting. In the middle were some plaster arches that led to the seating area, with a long bar, tables, and puffy booths that screamed traditional retro diner.

The gaggle of teens picked out two of the adjacent booths, going four and four. Kion, Jasiri, Madoa and Cheezi took one, the rest took the other. The place wasn't packed but it was nicely sparse. Near to them at one of the single tables was a rather rotund cheetah male enjoying the remains of what looked like a dessert.

A slightly bottom-heavy, squat hyena in a white-and-pink checkered diner waitress dress fronted with a crisp white apron approached the cheetah but noticed the teens before he could start in with him. He softly patted him on the shoulder and said, "Hey Benji, lemme get these cubs, 'k?"

Benji nodded profusely and gave a giant smile. "Sure thing, Louise! Take your time."

Louise came to the two booths and stood between the two, far enough away to get them all in view. "Snazzy set. You cubs today and your open pairing." He looked at Cheezi and Madoa, noting the difference in height and musculature and giving a thumbs up. "Pretty dress there, cub. Your big, strong girlfriend buy it for you?"

Cheezi nodded eagerly, wrapping an arm around Madoa and squeezing. "Uh-huh! And she's older than me! She's big and she buys me clothes and she's great!"

Madoa tousled Cheezi's mop and pinched his cheek. "Such a flatterer..."

Louise pulled a notepad from the pocket of his apron and flipped to a blank page. "Menus are on the table. What can I get you cubs to start?"

Everyone pulled the menus, giving fairly basic drink orders, though Dhahabu wanted fizzed grass juice, which they had, much to her delight. After ordering, Kion tapped the table and asked, "Excuse me, is Anaxamander here tonight?"

Louise nodded, slipping the pad back into his apron. "The new kit. Fresh and eager. She's Helen on the stage but he'll be glad to come talk. You fans?"

"He used to be my sister's... friend but also chaperone? He's still her friend but dad stopped hiring him to take her around after he helped her meet her girlfriend. But... secretly. It was the keeping secrets part," Kion explained.

Louise cast her gaze between Kion and Jasiri, who was rather openly toying with his red mane-puff. "Was she..?"

"Another lioness. But she's poor. And a goth. And keeps a butterfly knife in her sleeve," Kion said. "She's really nice... kinda. She's nice to us."

"She called me a boring Tender's daughter," Jasiri said. "I told her I could whip up snark enough off her being a goth. She called me a keeper. That was during my first date with Kion."

"Cubs today..." Louise said with a soft chuckle. "Show's on soon. Sorry it's not more hopping. This is the dedicated set's time. We do a brisker brunch business on Frededas after early-"

"Unification," Jasiri and Madoa finished with matching hyena giggles.

"Pancakes and poached eggs with cricket sauce," Madoa added. "And mom always has biscuits in lizard gravy, plus shrimp grits."

"Acacia juice and roasted breadfruit stuffed with poached salmon," Jasiri continued. "Like I said, a boring Tender's daughter. We eat late Frededas morning."

The pad was back out, Louise scribbling down things as they spoke. "... poached salmon... Well, hope you don't mind we punch up the menu a little with your own."

"Add the thick Old Country waffles with mixed insect-berry compote," Jasiri suggested.

"I'll go pin these to the idea board and get out your drinks," Louise said with a smile.

"I thought you looked familiar," Benji said after a moment of looking over. "The chief had me draw up the arrest warrant more than once, said it had to be exactly right so... what did he say? So that polished plop couldn't get his army of lawyers to get him out. I knew he was just worried over nothing."

Kion scoffed and rolled his eyes. "He tried. He was on the phone to the company legal team for hours, and I knew he hated it more because Mr. Steinfang is a hyena. I'm glad some of Uncle Taka's friends are still in there. He said 'break the desolated warrant' like ten times. Sorry he made so much trouble. That's his job now, being a pain to everybody he gets close to."

"I don't mind, it's my job, and my brother wouldn't trust that important of a job to anyone else. It's his way of showing he cares and trusts me," Benji laughed. He gave a friendly wave to the assembled. "Benjamin Clawhauser, ZPD. My sister married the chief, that's wh- wait..." He finally noticed Dhahabu, who had been a little tucked back from his vision. "Oh Em Goodness! Is that the fabulous Dhahabu?"

"Outside Pride Queen herself," Dhahabu warbled, pulling Bunga up against her side. "And my boyfriend."

"I saw! You look so much cuter not in telephoto lenses! Oh! Sorry!" Benji looked around, tail flicking in agitation.

"Wowzers, that's some panic. You see a ghost or something?" Badili asked.

"A cheetah wouldn't be afraid of ghosts. Did you see a cucumber?" Fuli queried, her own eyes flicking around.

"I've gotten extra sensitive about calling things cute. I've been working with Judy Wilde-Hopps for a while and I'm super careful about that," Benji explained.

"Oh right... rabbits have that thing about other species calling them cute," Dhahabu mused.

"It's pretty cereal, she really let me know," Benji said. "And I get it. It's about respect, and I'm all about that."

"And thanks for your service. Seeing Mr. Pride in handcuffs was a real treat," Jasiri noted.

"Jasiri! Manners!" Madoa snapped, with a rising cackle behind the words.

"You realize I'm not opposed to that right? Do you remember what he did to us? I think they should have arrested Rani too, just because," Kion huffed.

"Oooh, sorry. But, no can do. She did lead you on, but that's just bad manners, not a crime. Maybe the photographer who was acting as an agent of the company, and that would just be a fine the company would absorb, so not a good catch," Benji said. "You're somewhat a public figure but also a minor. That's a... 621 P.C.? Distributing the photo or video or audio of a minor without parental consent. It's down the list. Did you sue over the libel? That's a crime."

"They weren't stupid enough to do anything official," Kion groused.

"Even that stupid show that tried to ambush me never used anything from the photo session. My lawyers would have ripped them apart," Dhahabu added. "They tried to hurt Bunga trying to hurt Kion. Friendship is sacred, like on My Little Dawn-Horse. Sometimes I think we all need more eohippus in our lives."

"Zuka zama! Gloaming Glitter all the way!" Bunga cried, pressing a hand to his forehead and holding up a finger in imitation of an alicorn.

Benji immediately linked his thumbs and spread his fingers in imitation of wings. "Aurora Spiker!"

"They're like your uncle Ed. Or aunt Shenzi," Kion laughed.

"They're not nearly loud enough," Jasiri snickered.

"Are you here to see anyone special? My boyfriend is the headliner," Benji cooed. "Stott. Onstage she's Glamzelle. Officially approved as a Gazelle impersonator by the angel with horns herself."

"We didn't start out doing that," Kion said. "But I found out an old friend is here. Anaxamander. Helen. He's my sister's old friend-chaperone."

"Stott talks about him! He's got so much natural talent. Should be a good show. This is a cleanup show. New folks polish up, established folks request extra shifts. Stott does it because we get more one-on-one interaction on slow shifts," Benji explained.

By that time Louise had arrived with a large tray, doling out drinks to the two tables. "Show's on in a few. You're in luck, I got them to swap a little, get Helen on first. Figured you'd like a chat after that."

"Asante," Kion said with a bow of his head. "It'll be nice."

"Anything entree related? All dessert night? I know this dotter likes to think he can resist sweets all night," Louise said, softly nudging Benji with a hip.

"I can resist everything except Stott. And ice cream," Benji laughed.

"We'll get some basket of something unhealthy, lizard bits or bird wings or something dunked in hot oil and chili sauce," Madoa suggested. "We can all share. Oh! Dhahabu, flex diet or specific?"

"Oh flex, way flex all the way," she answered, rubbing Bunga on the head. "The way I lean are you surprised?"

"Chili sauce?" Badili timidly asked.

"Right, right. Let's have two orders of the variety platter, extra seasoned cream sauce, and mild seasoning, or none if you can do that," Madoa said.

"Tongue a little timid, junior? You're lucky your big, strong jock girlfriend is there, some hyena lady on a motorcycle and in a leather jacket would lay you across the back like a fresh-hunted goose," Louise laughed while writing.

"I don't do dots and I don't have a motorcycle. I might hunt a goose,"Jasiri teased while caressing Kion's puff. "Auntie Shenzi might lend me hers. You'd fit on the back, straddled or across."

"Maybe she can take us hunting, the game reserve's not that far away," Kion teased back.

"Love doves," Fuli snarked, leaning in to kiss Badili on the nose.

"I'll get this started. Probably be serving when your friend is up, don't mind me," Louise said, before making his way back to the kitchen area.

Further conversation halted when the lights dimmed a bit and music slowly rose. Spotlights popped on as the curtain parted, the lights converging on a sparkly figure. The tall, long meerkat was clad in a blue, sparkling sheath dress that hugged the very slightly broad shoulders and the masculinely slim, narrow hips. The meerkat poof of head hair had been transformed from the previous teenage anastole into a complex weave of braids that rose up above the earring-bedecked ears. The application of makeup was traditional, heavy, darkly shadowed eyes, bright red lips, strong liners to make the eyes pop when combined with the long and fluttering lashes. She cradled a microphone and softly cooed into it, "If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess I've already won that..."

The song was a smooth and sultry version of a beloved film tune, and concluded with a blown kiss and a wink at the audience. After a long bit of time Anaxamander came out of the back, his hair in a net and his makeup wholly wiped away, his dress replaced with a fluffy robe. He gave a little fist-bump to Benji and winked at Kion. "Xenophon had to pay up twenty bucks and two Old Country silver obolae when you hit the papers. I told him you can always tell."

"Oh he was always obvious, was he? I thought my charms and graces enchanted his mind and made him overt," Jasiri said, fuzzling Kion's manelet.

"Of course he was that obvious. Why do you think I thought I had a shot?" Fuli asked. "Zuri had to pay up too, same reason. Maybe she didn't mean it, she's an Inter too."

"She meant it. She has graze range," Kion explained. "But she eats more on the far end. That's cool. So do I." He leaned in and kissed Jasiri on the cheek.

"Far on the graze range," Anaxamander chuckled. "If I wasn't hustling to make all the ends meet I'd go hang with Kiara more. Vitani always spiced things up, but maybe because we were hiding it. Those were the days..."

"Dad sure showed who he was. I can't believe I was surprised," Kion grumbled.

"He was just an overprotective dad. It's amazing how the line between caring dad and bigoted monster can seem so clear... clear enough to be invisible," Anaxamander sagely noted. "It seemed sensible. I had lied to him. A lot. Small lies, but eventually big lies. Kiara deserved it. I love getting the occasional snaps from dates and things."

"Hit her up tonight, they're out with our other friends. Have you kept up with the story of Vitani's older brother?" Kion asked.

"A canid!" Anaxamander squealed. "That's peak goss. He's got a mane dark as your great-uncle's and that bad-boy look that makes knees weak. And he's dating some... religious tanuki. I thought it was a joke, but no way. The pictures said it all."

"It takes guts to make it look that natural," Bunga casually said, leaning up against his larger girlfriend.

"So I can see," Anaxamander chuckled. "Does he realize..?"

"We make bets, but it's not really clear how much he actually gets," Fuli snarked.

"Order up, cubs!" Louise said with a big smile on his face. He laid out two platters of fried bits and wings, with the requested sauces. "Sorry it took a while. I had to explain we had a special request. They're used to idiots getting more and more hot sauce on there. Took some time to get all the mild and unseasoned stuff together."

"Golly, I'm so sorry for making such a fuss ma'am... sir..." Badili said with increasing uncertainty.

"I'm good with both," Louise said with a wink. "I'm not like the talent, I don't divide between onstage and offstage. I just go with whatever customers say."

"Louise is a real clutch player here," Anaxamander said with a smile. "You mind if I squeeze in and watch Glamzelle with all of you?"

Benji nudged a chair with his paw, attempting to pull it out. "You can sit here! Saves space."

"Hey, thanks, Benji," Anaxamnder said, sliding into the offered chair. "Don't worry, I won't pick off your plates, I prefer bugs."

"I got the taste too, and you know why," Kion said, still picking up and picking clean one of the meaty wings.

"Auntie Shenzi got me into it. It's a family thing, we're big into meerkat cookery," Jasiri said, crunching through a similar wing, bones and all, gashing it all down and daintily dabbing her lips. "Somehow it feels more refined."

"You put on so many airs, little sister," Madoa said with a roll of her eyes, loudly crunching through a couple of wings, while also selecting and feeding Cheezi a few of the plumper, more desirable ones. "You lean into the Tender's daughter stereotype so hard."

"Yes, and we all hate stereotypes so much," Jasiri snarked, picking up a lizard chunk and putting it to Kion's lips until he nibbled it out of her fingers.

"Funny critters, hyenas," Badili mused. "Not being unkind, but never seen it like that. Dad always took the head of things."

"Felids have all ways, mother cheetahs are very equal to the dads," Fuli noted quietly, adjusting Badili's attire and wiping his mouth with a napkin after he ate a mild lizard chunk with seasoned cream sauce. "Mammals say they fuss but that's just one of those silly rumors that gets repeated."

All conversation halted when the lights went down and the stage lit up, a very familiar sounding intro making Benji squeal. Onto the stage stepped the very spitting image of Gazelle, though with slightly longer horns and a bit of a heavier touch with the makeup. The sultry strut was exact, though, as were all the carefully controlled motions and sensuous poses. The voice that emerged was pitched deeper but not too much, and sang loud, proud, and pure. "I messed up tonight, I lost another fight..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snouts Service- A take-off of the phrase Lip Service, a pun based on the location, Snouts, which is related to a local place called Lips, which also does family-friendly drag show brunches.
> 
> Cucumber- Amazingly enough, Cheetahs are a big cat but aren't a pantheran, at least in the details. They can purr like felids (though they aren't the biggest felid, that would be the puma, pumas purring is adorable). Because of this I wanted Fuli to basically be a giant housecat, including being afraid of cucumbers
> 
> Gloaming Glitter and Aurora Spiker- Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash as magical eohippi, with fans having hand signs for their favorite eohippus race, and further confirmation that Shenzi doesn't just keep the show on to keep Ed happy and calm.
> 
> Graze Range- Of course, sexual attraction isn't binary, it's largely bimodal or on a range to include aro-ace. Even if someone has an attraction number they can wiggle on either side of it. Zuri has modestly wide range, from her own kind to a fairly basal feliform like a hyena. She doesn't even sort of leave her own diet or touch canids.


End file.
